
Collection Online as of June 4, 2023
Part of a set. See all set records
(American, 1945-)
Vintage photograph, photograph of a photograph, photographic enlargement of dictionary definition of ‘photograph,’ original photo-certificate with original cut-out definition
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2009.1.bb
© Joseph Kosuth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
not on view
Kosuth is regarded as one of the most significant artists to champion conceptualism, which values the idea of an artwork over the physical object itself. In this work, Kosuth compares three different ways to present information, represented by an etymological dictionary definition of photograph, a photograph by Linda Butler of the nearby Peter B. Lewis building designed by Frank Gehry, and a life-size photograph of Butler’s photograph. Kosuth’s groundbreaking work presciently questions what it means for any image to be an “original” and whether this distinction influences a picture’s meaning.