The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Boy with Chicken, Hungjao, China

1945

Arthur Rothstein

(American, 1915–1985)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 30.4 x 22.9 cm (11 15/16 x 9 in.); Paper: 35.4 x 27.9 cm (13 15/16 x 11 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)
Gift of Alan and Monah L. Gettner 2003.57.5
Location: Not on view

Description

This poignant image of a young toddler dwarfed by the chicken in his arms was probably taken during Arthur Rothstein’s travels in China for the United Nations immediately following World War II. Rothstein, one of America’s most important and influential documentary photographers, worked for the Farm Security Administration during the Depression, for the Office of War Information during the Second World War, and as Director of Photography for Look Magazine for twenty-five years. He said of his influential work, "I have used the visual image to present facts, to register ideas and emotion, for the camera captures the decisive moment and records events with greater accuracy than does the human eye."
  • Trophies of the Hunt: Capturing Nature as Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 3, 2004).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 7/24/04 - 11/3/04. "Trophies of the Hunt: Capturing Nature as Art". No exhibition catalogue.
  • {{cite web|title=Boy with Chicken, Hungjao, China|url=false|author=Arthur Rothstein|year=1945|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.57.5