Footsteps, Harlem

1961

Adger Cowans

Associated Names
Adger Cowans

Artist, American, born 1936

This black-and-white photograph presents a high-angle view of a snow-covered urban street. The majority of the image is filled with a bright, nearly white surface of snow. Subtle variations in tone indicate uneven areas, footprints, and patches of compressed snow. Near the center-right of the composition, a single man-ish figure walks across the snow, moving towards the right. The man appears small in scale compared to the surrounding space. He is dressed in dark clothing, including what looks to be a suit coat, brimmed hat, and pants, which contrasts sharply with the light background. The person leans slightly forward while walking, with one leg extended and the other bent, suggesting forward motion. Across the image, several parked cars are partially visible beneath the snow. These cars appear as soft, rounded rectangular forms with darker outlines. They are arranged in horizontal rows near the top and bottom edges of the frame. The snow covers most of their surfaces, leaving only faint contours and occasional darker details visible. Footprints and car tracks cut through the snow, forming thin, darker lines that move diagonally and horizontally across the image.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund

  • Dimensions

    image: 21.3 × 34.1 cm (8 3/8 × 13 7/16 in.)
    sheet: 27.7 × 35.7 cm (10 7/8 × 14 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2022.21.7


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York); NGA purchase, 2022.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

on verso, signed by artist, lower right in graphite: © Adger Cowans Footsteps / 1960 [crossed out] -61; bottom left: 54; by unknown hand, bottom center in graphite: AC0-00035-SP


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