The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Jake and Maggie

1998

Eric Rippert

(American, b. 1963)
America
chromogenic process color print
Framed: 106.8 x 132.1 x 5.1 cm (42 1/16 x 52 x 2 in.)
Gift of John C. Williams in honor of Tom Hinson 2010.259
Location: Not on view

Description

Into this straightforward image of the downtown Cleveland skyline, a car in the foreground appears to be speeding through the scene; however, only the landscape is real while the automobile is actually an 8-inch toy car. With technical skill, the artist has believably inserted the model into the environment without the aid of digital or darkroom manipulation. By using the toy replica, Rippert has fashioned an imaginary implied narrative. He challenges the expectation of a photograph to objectively record reality. The landscape becomes neither natural nor real—it has been altered both by human habitation and artistic manipulation.
  • John Williams, Cleveland, OH
  • Contemporary Landscape Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-August 14, 2011).
    MOCA, Cleveland, 1998
  • {{cite web|title=Jake and Maggie|url=false|author=Eric Rippert|year=1998|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.259