The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Near the River at Greenville, Mississippi

1984

William Eggleston

(American, 1939-)
America
chromogenic process color print (Ektacolor)
Image: 32.7 x 49.4 cm (12 7/8 x 19 7/16 in.); Paper: 40.6 x 50.7 cm (16 x 19 15/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
Purchased with a grant from the NEA and matched by contributions from Museum members in 1989 1989.420
© 1984 Eggleston Artistic Trust. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Location: Not on view

Description

William Eggleston was among the first to take advantage of improved color technologies at a time when color photography was considered acceptable for snapshots, but not serious art. By 1966, he was using color exclusively, recording seeming banal, common, and ordinary objects and situations in his own spare, snapshot style. Near the River at Greenville, Mississippi reveals Eggleston's dual interest in rich, lurid color and in the knowing description of place. The saturated hues spread throughout the composition energize the image, providing the backyard scene with an uncomfortable, almost threatening atmosphere.
  • Marie Martin
  • E. H. T. "The Year in Review: Selections 1989." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 2 (1990): 38-78. p. 70, no. 80 25160106
    Hinson, Tom E. "Contemporary American Photographs: An Exhibition." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 9 (1992): 306-51. p. 347, no. 14 25161375
    "1989 Annual Report." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 6 (1990): 183-259. Reproduced: p. 188; Mentioned: p. 182 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 145
  • Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
    Contemporary American Photographers. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 18, 1992-January 3, 1993).
  • {{cite web|title=Near the River at Greenville, Mississippi|url=false|author=William Eggleston|year=1984|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.420