Outerbridge was as a commercial photographer, but also produced photographs as a means of personal expression. In the early 1920s, he made platinum prints of commonplace objects, transforming them into Cubist-derived abstractions through an acute sensitivity to light and pattern. Here, a simple box casts curious shadows, creating a flattened geometric composition reminiscent of Cubist still lifes by Picasso and Braque (see Gallery 908 and 910). Abstraction exemplifies Outerbridge’s ability to control spatial relationships, a skill that led critics to compare him to painters of his time.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Abstraction
Artist:Paul Outerbridge Jr. (American, New York 1896–1959 Laguna Beach, California)
Date:1922
Medium:Platinum print
Dimensions:8.6 x 11.4cm (3 3/8 x 4 1/2in.) Mount: 35.6 x 28cm (14 x 11in.)
Classification:Photographs
Credit Line:Gift of the artist, 1929
Object Number:29.82.1
Inscription: Signed and dated in pencil on mount, recto C, below print: "Paul Outerbridge Jr. // 1922."; titled in pencil on mount, verso UC: "Abstraction"; inscribed in ink on mount, verso LC: "Property of: Paul Outerbridge, Jr. // To be returned to: 49 West 74th Street // New York City // U.S.A."; inscribed in unknown hand in pencil on mount, verso UL corner: "3 [encircled]"; inscribed in unknown hand in ink on mount, verso UR: "1 [encircled]"
Paul Outerbridge, Jr.
There are two versions of this photograph: one retouched, one unretouched. This print is unretouched. See LACPS catalog and A Singular Aesthetic for a discussion of the two variants.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Thirty Photographers: A Selection from the Museum's Collection," April 12–June 1, 1969.
Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. "Pantheon der Photographie," June 19, 1992–September 20, 1992.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Johnson Gallery, Selections from the Collection 1," December 4, 1992–May 4, 1993.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Still Life: 1915–1950," February 1, 1995–January 28, 1996, no catalogue (on view from June 2, 1995).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Johnson Gallery, Selections from the Collection 29," May 21–September 23, 2001.
J. Paul Getty Museum. "Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance," March 31, 2009–August 9, 2009.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art. "Reimagining Modernism - Photographs Rotation 1," July 21–November 16, 2014.
Howe, Graham. Paul Outerbridge, Jr.. 1st ed. Los Angeles: Center for Photographic Studies, 1976. p. 18, fig. 4.
Howe, Graham, ed. Paul Outerbridge, Jr.: Photographs. New York: Rizzoli, 1980. p. 36.
Dines, Elaine, ed. Paul Outerbridge, A Singular Aesthetic: Photographs & Drawings, 1920–1941: A Catalogue Raisonné. 1st ed. Santa Barbara: Laguna Art Museum, 1981. p. 47, 160.
Honnef, Klaus. Pantheon der Photographie im XX. Jahrhundert. Bonn, Germany: Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1992. p. 139.
Paul Outerbridge Jr. (American, New York 1896–1959 Laguna Beach, California)
1924
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 75,000 works spanning the history of photography from its invention in the 1830s to the present.