Two people seated at a booth in a diner, one of whom is drawing with her finger in the condensation on a window
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A black and white photograph shows a close up view of two people seated in a booth at a diner. They are nearly in silhouette, their faces lit mostly by light from a large window just beyond the table. At right, a man with a high forehead and a full round face, smiles faintly, resting one elbow on the table, while holding a spoon with his other hand. Across the table, a woman wearing a sweater and a knit cap over her curly hair, reaches one arm toward the window, looking intently as she draws on it with her finger, tracing curling lines in its condensation.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2018.118
People
John Simmons, American (Chicago, IL born 1950)
Title
Window Writing, Chicago
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph
Date
1969
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, Illinois, Chicago
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/361761

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Pigment print
Technique
Pigment print
Dimensions
24.1 × 35.6 cm (9 1/2 × 14 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r., in black ink: John Simmons
  • inscription: l.l., in black ink: Chicago 1969

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
John Simmons, created 1969, sold; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2018.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Fund for the Acquisition of Photographs
Copyright
© John Simmons
Accession Year
2018
Object Number
2018.118
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Colleen Walsh, "Taking it all personally: Carpenter Center show reflects racial disparities that helped fuel James Baldwin's writing", Harvard Gazette (Cambridge, MA, 2018)

Exhibition History

  • Photography and Social Change in James Baldwin’s America, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Cambridge, 09/13/2018 - 12/30/2018

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu