The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 18, 2026

A vertically oriented black-and-white photomontage depicts a woman with medium-light skin tone from the chest up, wearing a strapless patterned garment and a bracelet. She appears to emerge from an oversized snail shell, resting her chin on her hands with elbows on sandy ground. She has dark, wavy hair with bangs and looks upward and to our right. Her face and the shell's textured surface are highlighted against a dark background.

No. 4: Freshwater Mermaid

1950, printed probably 1970s

Grete Stern

(German, 1904–1999)
Argentina
gelatin silver print, photomontage
Image: 8.1 x 7.3 cm (3 3/16 x 2 7/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2023.157.4
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A key aspect of photomontage is the juxtaposition of elements that would not usually be found together.

Description

Grete Stern was commissioned to create the Dreams photomontages as photographic illustrations for a weekly column, “Psychoanalysis Will Help You,” in Idilio (Idyll), a pioneering Argentinian women’s magazine. Its readers submitted written descriptions of their dreams which were analyzed by two male intellectuals and illustrated by Stern. While incorporating some suggestions from two men, Stern often subverted their interpretations, substituting her own proto-feminist reactions to the dream narratives.
  • Grete Stern (the artist) [1904-1999], to Gerd Sander
    Gerd Sander [1940-2021]
    ?–2023
    (Galerie Julian Sander, Cologne, Germany), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 4, 2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=No. 4: Freshwater Mermaid|url=false|author=Grete Stern|year=1950, printed probably 1970s|access-date=18 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.157.4