Agave Design I
(1920s); printed (1979)
Medium
gelatin silver photograph
Measurements
32.6 × 25.6 cm (image and sheet) 49.6 × 39.8 cm (support)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1979
© 2023 Imogen Cunningham Trust / www.ImogenCunningham.com
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
Following the birth of her three sons, Imogen Cunningham had to close her portrait studio in Seattle. However, she found a way to continue taking pictures at home. According to Cunningham, she would spend the afternoons while her children napped photographing her plants, ‘because I couldn’t get out anywhere, and I had a garden’. In this close-up image of an agave, Cunningham focuses on the plant’s sharp lines and the play of light. The image is recognised as one of the most iconic abstracted avant-garde images of the early twentieth century. Soon after its creation, the image was included in the 1929 contemporary exhibition Film und Foto in Stuttgart, Germany.
Artwork Details
Inscription
artist chop mark on support l.c.r.: Imogen Cunningham chop mark on support l.r.: (Chinese symbol)
typed on paper label on support reverse l.c.: Agave Design 1, 1920s
printed in ink on paper label on support reverse l.c.: PHOTOGRAPH BY / Imogen Cunningham / THE IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM TRUST / 1713 Grove Street, Berkeley, California 94709 / 415/848-7285
Accession Number
PH119-1979
Department
International Photography
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Bowness Family Foundation