The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Rock Tower

1991

Ruth Thorne-Thomsen

(American, 1943–2025)
America
gelatin silver print, toned
Image: 11.5 x 8.6 cm (4 1/2 x 3 3/8 in.); Paper: 19.8 x 16.9 cm (7 13/16 x 6 5/8 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 30.6 cm (14 x 12 1/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1993.157
Location: Not on view

Description

Since the mid-1970s, Ruth Thorne-Thomsen has created a highly inventive body of work by challenging and exploiting photography's implied truthfulness (that is, the camera never lies). For this provocative image, she assembled a number of miniature props to construct a mysterious, surreal seascape enriched by warm, atmospheric light. Photographed close-up, Rock Tower was made with a pinhole camera. Using a paper negative, the pinhole camera provides an infinite depth of field. It is thus impossible to discern the scale of the objects depicted in the print. Reality has been transformed into illusion.
  • (Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY)
    September 15, 1993
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “1993 Annual Report.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 6 (July 1994): 143–218. Mentioned: p. 162 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 358
  • CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art."
    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).
  • {{cite web|title=Rock Tower|url=false|author=Ruth Thorne-Thomsen|year=1991|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1993.157