The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

1989 MC-19

1989, printed c. 1991

Ray K. Metzker

(American, 1931–2014)
America
Gelatin silver print
Image: 42.8 x 43 cm (16 7/8 x 16 15/16 in.); Paper: 60.4 x 50.5 cm (23 3/4 x 19 7/8 in.)
Gift of Tom E. Hinson and Diana S. Tittle 2022.63
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

In 1985, Ray Metzker began to concentrate on the natural landscape, a new subject for him and a break from his dark, experimental, and primarily urban images.

Description

A distinctive feature of his light-filled close-up photographs of plants and trees is the deliberate positioning of the camera so that the nearest elements are rendered out of focus, blurring spatial distinctions while increasing the photograph’s overall sensation of the ambiguity of space. There is no clearly established center of interest here but instead an overall, lacy weave of leaves and branches, all demanding equal attention.
  • 1992
    (Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY), sold to Tom Hinson, Truth or Consequences, NM
    1992-2022
    Tom Hinson, Truth or Consequences, NM, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 6, 2022-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=1989 MC-19|url=false|author=Ray K. Metzker|year=1989, printed c. 1991|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.63