The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Nancy, Danville, Virginia

1963

Emmet Gowin

(American, 1941-)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 20.2 x 30.5 cm (7 15/16 x 12 in.); Paper: 27.7 x 35.4 cm (10 7/8 x 13 15/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)
Gift of Museum members in 1989 1989.436
Location: Not on view

Description

Often focusing on his wife, children, and extended family, Emmet Gowin’s photographs explore themes regarding intimacy, relationships, the cycle of life, and the mundane. However, this image of his wife’s niece illustrates that Gowin’s photographs are not merely family snapshots. The toddler’s measured approach toward the relatively enormous goat seems to be filled with trepidation, as she carefully weighs her curiosity against the larger animal’s possible menace. Gowin’s candid image turns the sweet, yet uneasy dialogue between his two subjects into a revealing work of art.
  • E. H. T. "The Year in Review: Selections 1989." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 2 (1990): 38-78. p. 71, no. 96 25160106
    Hinson, Tom E. "Contemporary American Photographs: An Exhibition." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 9 (1992): 306-51. p. 348, no. 29 25161375
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 187
  • Trophies of the Hunt: Capturing Nature as Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 3, 2004).
    Contemporary American Photographers. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 18, 1992-January 3, 1993).
  • {{cite web|title=Nancy, Danville, Virginia|url=false|author=Emmet Gowin|year=1963|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.436