Yancey Richardson: August Sander

Last August Sander post, I promise. In conjunction with the current exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yancey Richardson is showing a selection of images from "The Woman", one of the major categories in Sander's "People of the 20th Century". Sander's project was explicitly focused on visually defining archetypical personas with the idea that one should be able to read a portrait and come away with an understanding of what the person did and what their personality was like. Unfortunately, the Met's curator prevents you from attempting to test this theory by placing the photo titles to the left of each image so that as you circle the exhibition rooms clockwise you are tipped off to the subject's profession by the title. This heavily colors the impression each portrait gives. Frankly, it would be fairly easy for many portraits to exchange titles with no ill effect. In fact, some of the subjects appear more than once in different guises, which would seem to shed some doubt on Sander's overarching theme.

The Woman
Through July 9 at Yancey Richardson Gallery
535 West 22nd Street, 3rd floor
(646) 230-9610

On Sunday, June 20, the Met will be holding a lecture and showing a film about Sander's work. Susanne Lange, director of the Sander Archiv, and research associate Gabriele Conrath-Scholl will speak from 2-3:30 pm in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The lecture will be followed by a short film (22min.), Homage to August Sander, which contrasts photographs taken by Sander in a small farming village with interviews of the inhabitants circa the late 1970s. Both events are "free with Museum admission", which means if you're not a member they cost $12.

There is also a current show of Sander's less well-known landscape photography underway at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Following the destruction of remaining copies and printing plates for Face of Our Time and increased scrutiny from the Nazi security apparatus, Sander relocated to rural >> and temporarily set aside his portrait work in favor of less politically sensitive landscapes. Thanks to Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes for the tip.

Through Sept. 5 at The Phillips Collection
1600 21st St, NW
Wash., D.C.
(202) 387-2151