On the Plains a Hat Is More Than a Covering

1938, printed c. 1965

Dorothea Lange

Associated Names
Dorothea Lange

Artist, American, 1895 - 1965

This black-and-white photograph depicts a close-up of a person's hand holding a large, creased cowboy hat upside down. The hand is at the center of the photograph, and it appears weathered and veiny, curving downward to hold the edge of the hat. The hand is medium-toned, and the hat is slightly darker. The person is wearing a coarse fabric shirt, and we can't see any of their other features, aside from what may be the bottom of a coarse white beard near the upper left corner. The background is dark and blurred, focusing on the hands and hat.
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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Article:  The Real Lives of People in Dorothea Lange's Portraits

Four everyday Americans were the subject of her famous photographs. Discover the heartbreak and suffering they faced at crucial points in American history.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. (RoseGallery, Santa Monica, CA); Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, Van Nuys, CA, 20 March 2004; gift to NGA, 2016.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • Dorothea Lange: The Museum of Modern Art, January 26-April 10, 1966

2023

  • Dorothea Lange: Seeing People, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, 2023 - 2024, unnumbered catalogue.

Inscriptions

on verso, by unknown hand, upper left in graphite: 157; center crossed out: 17; bottom center: 85; lower left: E66.157.1; lower right: R611817

Wikidata ID

Q64146745

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