The Family in Photography | Spencer Museum of Art

Spencer Museum of Art

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Exhibition

The Family in Photography

The Family in Photography

Stefanie Vigil, curator

North Balcony, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

This exhibition examines the evolution of images of the family from the 19th century to the present. It also explores the social changes that are encoded in images of the family. As the most important social instituting of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the family, and the values and beliefs shared by its members, are indicative of the values of society as a whole. This examination of photographs of the family offers an insightful look at how our ideas about ourselves have changed since the mid-nineteenth century.

Exhibition images

Works of art

portrait of young woman standing between two men

portrait of couple

portrait of two young girls

unknown maker, portrait of man and woman

unknown maker, portrait of woman and children

unknown maker, portrait of young boy and girl

Jon Blumb (born 1956); Joseph Judd Pennell (1866–1922), Joseph Judd and Edith Stanley Pennell

Max Waldman (1919–1981), Zero Mostell and Family

Elliott Erwitt (1928–2023), U.S.A.

Diane Arbus (1923–1971), Ricky Nelson and family

Oscar Gustav Rejlander (1813–1875), The Poet's Family at Farringford

T. C. Mathewson, portrait of Henry Aten

Jon Blumb (born 1956); Joseph Judd Pennell (1866–1922), Pauley Wedding

Robert Doisneau (1912–1994), La Stricte Intimité (Strict Intimacy)

Gordon Parks (1912–2006), Wedding, France

James Alinder (born 1941), Christmas at Hinky Dinky, Lincoln, Nebraska

Mark Goodman (born 1946), untitled (boy standing in corner of his room)

Mark Goodman (born 1946), untitled (woman seated on unmade bed)

Mark Goodman (born 1946), untitled (girl standing in doorway)

Diane Arbus (1923–1971); Neil Selkirk (born 1947); Doon Arbus (born 1945), untitled (children under coat)

James Alinder (born 1941), Jesse Among the Chickens, Sparta, Wisconsin

Mark Goodman (born 1946), untitled (two boys in swim trunks)

Mary Stuart Lang (born 1949), In the Sprinkler, Auburndale

Mary Stuart Lang (born 1949), Three in the Trees, Auburndale

Harry Callahan (1912–1999), Chicago #770

Emmet Gowin (born 1941), Wife on Pillow

Emmet Gowin (born 1941), Wife and Car

Chester J. Michalik (born 1935), J. B. M.

Robert Benton (born 1932), Mr. and Mrs. Martin Gable (Arlene Francis and Martin Gable)

Robert Benton (born 1932), Mr. and Mrs. Monte Kay (Diahann Carroll and Monte Kay)

Robert Benton (born 1932), Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Cugat (Abbie Lane and Xavier Cugat)

Robert Benton (born 1932), Mr. and Mrs. Mickey Hargitay (Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield)

Jerry Norman Uelsmann (1934–2022), untitled (house and photograph)

Jerry Norman Uelsmann (1934–2022), Forgotten Heritage

Jerry Norman Uelsmann (1934–2022), Room #1

Jim Goldberg (born 1953), untitled

Jim Goldberg (born 1953), untitled

Diane Arbus (1923–1971), A Husband and Wife in the Woods at a Nudist Camp, NJ

Walker Evans (1903–1975); Evans Estate, Share Croppers Family, Hale County, Alabama

Walker Evans (1903–1975), Woman and Children, Havana

Arthur Rothstein (1915–1985), The family of a migratory fruit worker from Tennessee now camped in a field near the packinghouse at Winter Haven, Florida

Marion Palfi (1907–1978), Knoxville, Tennessee, 1949

Aaron Siskind (1903–1991), Harlem Document

Gordon Parks (1912–2006), The da Silva Family at Dawn

W. Eugene Smith (1918–1978), Tomoko and Mother in the Bath

Jon Blumb (born 1956); Joseph Judd Pennell (1866–1922), Jim Miller's House

Bill Owens (born 1938), untitled (Ronald Reagan on TV)

Mark Goodman (born 1946), untitled (man holding baby)

Robert Adams (born 1937), Colorado Springs

Robert Adams (born 1937), Tract House, Colorado Springs

Mark Goodman (born 1946), Kansas

Geoffrey L. Winningham (born 1943), The Porter's Tree

Mark Goodman (born 1946), untitled (girl in bedroom holding clarinet)

Joe Kelly (born 1953), Steve Wayne, Jr. at Graceland

Howard Welford Casler (1914–1973), Betsy and Kathleen

Howard Welford Casler (1914–1973), Betsy and Kathleen

Howard Welford Casler (1914–1973), Mother and Child

Gertrude Stanton Käsebier (1852–1934), untitled (woman bending over a child)

Gertrude Stanton Käsebier (1852–1934), Mother and Child

Gertrude Stanton Käsebier (1852–1934), untitled (Mrs. Hermine Turner, Son, and Daughter Mina)

Gertrude Stanton Käsebier (1852–1934), untitled (woman holding a baby)

Jon O'Neal (born 1957), My Friend Greg Died

Marion Post Wolcott (1910–1990), Negro Sharecropper Family Working in Cotton Field, Georgia