The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

10th Grade English Class, Boston Latin School

1996

Nicholas Nixon

(American, 1947-)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 46.8 x 58.2 cm (18 7/16 x 22 15/16 in.); Paper: 50.8 x 60.8 cm (20 x 23 15/16 in.); Matted: 76.2 x 81.3 cm (30 x 32 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.153
Location: Not on view

Description

Widely known for portraits of his family, AIDS patients, and the elderly, this image is from a series in which Nicholas Nixon examined the lives of children in three Boston-area settings. Many of these photographs with accompanying essays by Pulitzer Prize–winning child psychiatrist Robert Coles were published in the book School. Here Nixon records a slice of the daily life of pupils at Boston Latin School, a public school where academic excellence and equity of opportunity have existed since its founding in 1635. In this formally composed image, Nixon creates picture planes by arranging the students into two groups. The lively students choose to ignore the camera, continuing instead with their individual activities.
  • Looking at Children: Photographs from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 20-December 4, 2002).
    CMA, July 20 - December 4, 2002; "Looking at Children". No catalog
  • {{cite web|title=10th Grade English Class, Boston Latin School|url=false|author=Nicholas Nixon|year=1996|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.153