The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Chiaroscuro

1972–81

Ralph Gibson

(American, 1939-)
America
Portfolio of 15 gelatin silver prints
Overall: 30.5 x 40.6 cm (12 x 16 in.)
Gift of Alan and Monah L. Gettner 2018.1057
© Ralph Gibson
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Ralph Gibson was randomly selected to learn photography on his first day in boot camp in the navy, which he entered at age sixteen.

Description

Gibson assembled 15 of his photographs into a portfolio he called Chiaroscuro, because all of the images explore sharp contrasts of brightness and shadow created by light that falls unevenly or from a single direction on an object or scene. Often dreamlike in nature, the images while firmly rooted in reality, also explore abstraction.
  • Alan and Monah L. Gettner, New York, NY
    December 3, 2018
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Gibson, Ralph. Syntax. New York, NY: Lustrum Press, 1983.
    Gibson, Ralph. Tropism: Photographs. 1987.
  • {{cite web|title=Chiaroscuro|url=false|author=Ralph Gibson|year=1972–81|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.1057