Object number1987.53.65

Alexander Calder in his Studio, Roxbury, Connecticut

Date1958

Artist Rosalie Thorne McKenna (American, 1918-2003)

CultureAmerican

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 9 13/16 x 9 13/16 in. (25 x 25 cm)
Mount: 14 3/8 x 14 in. (36.5 x 35.6 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Photograph

InscribedOn verso, by artist, center in ink: A. CALDER I #10 / ALEXANDER CALDER IN HIS / STUDIO, ROXBURY CONN 1958 / NEG # I-10; by unidentified hand, upper left corner in red ink: 3; lower right corner in pencil: 87.53.65

MarkingsOn verso, stamped upper center edge [address scribbled out]: PHOTO BY: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / 438 EAST 88 STREET / NEW YORK 28, N. Y. / TEL. ENRIGHT 9-3889 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission. / Please Credit With Photo; COPYRIGHT; ASMP MEMBER / AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHERS; stamped center: PHOTO RESEARCHERS, INC. / 19 E. 53 ST. N.Y. 22, N.Y.; stamped lower right edge: Photo By: / ROLLIE McKENNA; stamped lower center: Photo By: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / ONE HANCOX STREET / STONINGTON, CONN. / AREA CODE 203 533-0110 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission / Please Credit With Photo On printed label, on verso left center edge: © Rollie McKenna / 1 Hancox Street / Stonington, CT 06378 / (203) 535-0110/2126

BibliographyRosalie Thorne McKenna, Rollie McKenna: A Life in Photography (New York: Knopf, 1991), 202. ProvenanceGift of the artist

Vassar Exhibitions

Making a Life in Photography: Rollie McKenna (Loeb)

Label TextIn 1958, when McKenna visited Alexander Calder’s Connecticut studio, his mobiles had become emblematic of sophisticated taste and could be found hanging in the interiors of modern buildings all over the world. In McKenna’s closely cropped portrait, Calder appears relaxed and convivial, a cigarette in his large, competent hand and a wry smile emerging on his face. McKenna purposefully chose modern poets, artists, critics, and architects to cultivate her circle of friends and acquaintances and very often they doubled as her subjects. In an interview she recalls, “Throughout my life, I’ve been drawn to artists, whatever their medium.” She continues, “I cling to the belief that the creative drive is life affirming.” What drew her attention to creativity seems to be both her fascination with the people themselves as well as their experiments with form, process, and materials. She aligned with their aesthetic autonomy as an important aspiration, and eventual attribute of her own practice.

DescriptionAerial view in windowed work space of man with white hair and cigarette in mouth at bench surrounded by tools and scraps of materials

Terms

male

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu