Coal tipple, Goodspring, Pennsylvania
1975
from the Artists and photographs folio 1975
Medium
gelatin silver photographs
Measurements
24.0 × 33.9 cm (image and sheet) 40.7 × 49.6 cm (support)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1976
© Estate Bernd & Hilla Becher, represented by Max Becher
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
In 1959 married artists Bernd and Hilla Becher started photographing industrial architecture, a practice that would continue for over four decades. While predominantly documenting structures throughout Germany’s Ruhr region, they occasionally worked overseas – this work was made on their first trip to the United States. The Bechers created a system for comparing structures: photographing them from a consistent angle, under virtually identical lighting conditions, printing images at the same size and often displaying them in grids. According to Hilla Becher, their archive allows for narratives to naturally emerge: ‘Structural patterns and their transformations ... can be proved to exist in the case of such relatively exhaustive comparative series.’
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Pennsylvania, United States
Edition
ed. 9/60
Inscription
inscribed in pencil on support l.l.: 9/60
inscribed in pencil on support l.c.r.: Coal Tipple Goodspring Pa.
inscribed in pencil on support reverse c.: Hilla Becher Bernhard Becher 1975
artist stamp in ink on support reverse l.c.: © BERND & HILLA BECHER & / MULTIPLES INC. 1975
Accession Number
PH5-1976
Department
International Photography
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Bowness Family Foundation