The Unborn

1941

Not on view

Laughlin worked in New Orleans and found inspiration in the city’s faded grandeur. He developed what he termed as his own “visual poetry” by borrowing elements from modern photography—such as strong compositions and highly glossy printing techniques—and imbuing his images with mysterious symbolism. Here, Laughlin stages a tableau of enigmatic richness: a woman in black stands amid broken mirror shards and crumbling walls, holding a wood frame out of which stares the decapitated head of a sculpture. The blurred movement of the woman’s veil emphasizes the scene’s surreal, ghostly quality.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: The Unborn
Artist: Clarence John Laughlin (American, 1905–1985)
Date: 1941
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1948
Object Number: 48.116.7
Rights and Reproduction: © Copyright The Historic New Orleans Collection. Neg. acc. no. 1983.47.1.2756.
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Clarence John Laughlin

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Birds in Hyperspace, Clarence John Laughlin American, Gelatin silver print — Birds in Hyperspace
Clarence John Laughlin
1935

Gray and Brass, John Sloan American, Oil on canvas, American — Gray and Brass
John Sloan
1907

[Landscape], Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat French, Daguerreotype — [Landscape]
Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat
Stanislas Ratel
1844

The Sinister Old Lady, Clarence John Laughlin American, Gelatin silver print — The Sinister Old Lady
Clarence John Laughlin
1948

Necklace, Meta Overbeck American, Gold, emeralds, Montana sapphires, topazes, enamel, American — Necklace
Meta Overbeck
Louis C. Tiffany
Manufacturer Tiffany & Co.
ca. 1914–15

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

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 contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.