The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 20, 2025
One Talking Picture
1929, printed 1949
(American, 1899–1986)
Paper: 17.8 x 22.9 cm (7 x 9 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Gift of Therese and Murray Weiss 2012.76
© Estate of Ralph Steiner
Location: Not on view
Description
Posters for events with limited runs like the circus, slapped up on the sides of buildings, provided a constantly refreshed display of images on city walls and a compelling subject for Ralph Steiner and his friend and pupil Walker Evans. Steiner contrasts the excitement of the silver screen with a grim aspect of urban life: trash. He shows us posters, torn from walls at the end of the show’s run, left on the ground below; passersby have added objects to the heap. Evans, too, emphasizes the poster’s ephemerality. He reveals its torn edge and has selected a camera angle and a moment when the lighting accentuates the thinness of the cloth or paper.- Artist; Murray Weiss
- A New York Minute: Street Photography, 1920–1950. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-November 7, 2021).
- {{cite web|title=One Talking Picture|url=false|author=Ralph Steiner|year=1929, printed 1949|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.76