The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Matchstick Cove, San Mateo County, California

Matchstick Cove, San Mateo County, California

1947, printed 1949
(American, 1908–1976)
Image: 9 x 11.7 cm (3 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)
© 1982 Trustees of Princeton University
Location: not on view

Description

A leading advocate for the expressive powers of photography, White transformed everyday experiences into sublime statements, even in small images such as this sharply focused contact print. The elevated vantage point and expansive vista greatly reduce the sense of scale, leaving a carefully selected, abstracted detail of a favorite subject—the meeting of tidal waves and rugged cliffs on the California coast. The exquisite tonal values convey the subtly shifting effects of light and atmosphere. A bank of fog rolling in from the ocean both defines and softens the jagged contours of the landscape. The absence of a transition between the surging sea and the towering bluffs leaves little room for human presence, and the image becomes a metaphor for isolation and loneliness. Known for his complex and romantic writing style, White once explained that "the photograph acts as a symbol . . . for something that is beyond the subject photographed."
  • (Russ Anderson Fine Arts, Ltd., Aptos, CA)
    February 17, 1993
    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. 389
  • Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007); Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (October 3, 2009-January 3, 2010).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (6/24/07 - 9/16/07) and Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittburgh, PA (10/3/2009 - 1/3/2010); "Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art", no exhibition catalogue.
    American Space: Landscape Photography 1900-1950. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 6-May 23, 2001).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; January 3-May 23, 2001. "American Space: Landscape Photography, 1900-1950."
    CMA, September 13 - November 27, 1994: "Recent Acquisitions: Prints, Drawings, Photographs," no exhibition catalogue.
  • {{cite web|title=Matchstick Cove, San Mateo County, California|url=false|author=Minor White|year=1947, printed 1949|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1993.12