The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Black and White Lilies III

c. 1928

Imogen Cunningham

(American, 1883–1976)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 23.7 x 19 cm (9 5/16 x 7 1/2 in.); Paper: 30.1 x 24.6 cm (11 7/8 x 9 11/16 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2001.90
© The Imogen Cunningham Trust
Location: Not on view

Description

In the early 1920s, Cunningham combined the clarity and directness of modernism with her long-held interest in botanical imagery. For two decades she created a remarkable group of close-up studies of plants and flowers that identified her as one of the most sophisticated and experimental photographers working in America. In this dramatic, tightly cropped composition, Cunningham isolated two lilies against a simple velvet backdrop. A black calla (arum palaestium) was rhythmically placed in front of a white calla (zantedeschia aethiopica). The expanded scale of the black flower, with its partially visible spadix diagonally positioned, dominates the picture. The sculptural shapes and rich textures were emphasized by the combination of daylight and blue tungsten photofloods and the copious detail provided by the 8x10-inch negative. This sensuous print also encompasses a luxurious range of tones, from velvety black to milky white.
  • Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 70, no. 70
  • 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 the 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.
    The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 70, p. 119, repr. p. 70.
  • {{cite web|title=Black and White Lilies III|url=false|author=Imogen Cunningham|year=c. 1928|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2001.90