It is hard to decide which of the several mysteries contained in this macabre photograph is the most bizarre: the murder to which the title alludes, the headless bodies standing flat-footedly around a bodyless head, the "scriptboy" who enters at upper left, how the police photographer can be both rooted to the spot and levitating above it, why he wears his hat as he works, or where Weegee is standing.
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Inscription: Inscribed in red pencil on print, recto UL, LL, in margin of print: [crop marks]; inscribed on print, verso C: "Human Head // Cake Box Murder"; inscribed on print, verso CL [on slant]: "Trend [underlined]"; stamped and inscribed on print, verso LR: "EYE MAGAZINE // PHOTO NO #178 // STORY Murder // ISSUE Sept. // PAGE 60";
[Daniel Wolf, New York]; John C. Waddell, New York (February 23, 1980)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Johnson Gallery, Selections from the Collection 2," May 4–October 3, 1993.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Johnson Gallery, Selections from the Collection 48," April 1–August 24, 2008.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Night Vision: Photography After Dark," April 26–September 5, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Crime Stories: Photography and Foul Play," March 7–July 31, 2016.
Hambourg, Maria Morris. The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars, Ford Motor Company Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989. no. 35.
Weegee (American (born Austria-Hungary), Złoczów (Zolochiv, Ukraine) 1899–1968 New York)
1930s
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