The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Photographer (Bill Brandt)

1973

Nancy Hellebrand

(American, 1944-)

Image: 24.8 x 24.5 cm (9 3/4 x 9 5/8 in.); Paper: 30.3 x 25.3 cm (11 15/16 x 9 15/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)

Gift of Russ Anderson 1991.299

Location: Not on view

Description

Philadelphia native Nancy Hellebrand, recognized for her portraits of the British working class, was strongly influenced by photographer Bill Brandt (1904-1983), with whom she studied from 1971 to 1973. Brandt's work included social documentation, portraiture, landscape, and nudes. While in Paris during the late 1920s, his association with artists of the Surrealist movement helped shape his sensibilities. Alluding to that movement, Hellebrand made reference to the eye-a recurrent symbol in Surrealist art-by cropping one side of the sitter's face. She emphasized Brandt's surroundings as a means of identifying his artistic and intellectual pursuits. Although positioned at the edge of the image, the sitter's placement at the forefront and Hellebrand's use of intense light and shadow produced a wonderful field of depth. Brandt's somber, isolated, and perhaps introspective appearance is reinforced by the portrait's stark black-and-white tones.

(Russ Anderson, Perspective Fine Art, Soquel, CA)
February 24, 1992
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 194
Artists Photographing Artists. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2001-February 27, 2002).
The Cleveland Museum of Art; 10/13/01-2/27/02. "Artists Photographing Artists," no catalogue.
{{cite web|title=Photographer (Bill Brandt)|url=false|author=Nancy Hellebrand|year=1973|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.299