The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 7, 2026

A horizontally oriented black-and-white photograph is bisected by a sharp horizon line, creating two perfectly stacked bands. The upper half is a flat, uniform field of medium gray. Below, a dense, near-black plane is textured with fine, horizontal ripples. This stark division stretches from the left edge to the right, emphasizing a minimalist geometric balance between the smooth upper atmosphere and the dark, textured surface below.

Ionian Sea, Santa Cesarea III

1990

Hiroshi Sugimoto

(Japanese, 1948-)
Japan
gelatin silver print
Image: 42.2 x 54.2 cm (16 5/8 x 21 5/16 in.); Paper: 48.7 x 60.2 cm (19 3/16 x 23 11/16 in.); Matted: 63.5 x 81.3 cm (25 x 32 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, Mrs. John B. Dempsey, and Mr. Donald F. Barney Jr., in honor of Brenda and Evan Turner 1994.24
Location: Not on view

Description

In his striking, minimal seascapes, Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto conveys the sensation of timelessness and infinite space. For this series, begun in 1980, he traveled the world to photograph vast bodies of water from high cliffs using a large-format camera. By eliminating all indications of land and humanity, Sugimoto revealed the subtle differences in atmosphere, light, wind, and wave patterns at each site. In these three prints, the junction of sea and sky is depicted in the morning, on a foggy day not long before noon, and one hour after dusk. With trance-like intensity, these evocative seascapes provide cogent metaphors for transience, emptiness, and dislocation.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 351
  • 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=Ionian Sea, Santa Cesarea III|url=false|author=Hiroshi Sugimoto|year=1990|access-date=07 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1994.24