Booby Trap, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home

Martha Rosler, Booby Trap, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, ca. 1967-1972, printed 2018, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2021.7.9, Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York © Martha Rosler
Martha Rosler, Booby Trap, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, ca. 1967-1972, printed 2018, inkjet print, overall: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2021.7.9, Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York © Martha Rosler

Artwork Details

Title
Booby Trap, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home
Date
ca. 1967-1972, printed 2018
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Copyright
Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York © Martha Rosler
Credit Line
Gift of Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
inkjet print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape
  • Architecture — vehicle — automobile
Object Number
2021.7.9

Artwork Description

House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home addresses the subject of gender as it confronts the effects of war and militarism. Collaged from advertising and photojournalistic images cut from newspapers and magazines, the artworks in this series juxtapose the "feminine" realm of domestic life with the "manly" business of waging war.

When Martha Rosler created these works, the US war in Vietnam was rapidly escalating. She observed that news images of the war often reinforced the impression that it was taking place "very far away, in a place we couldn't imagine." She crafted her photomontages to collapse the distance between home front and war front, essentially "bringing the war home." In the artist's words, "We are not 'here' and 'there.' We are all one, and that is crucial."

Works by this artist (21 items)

Martha Rosler, Semiotics of the Kitchen, 1975, single-channel video, black and white, sound; 06:09 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company, 2008.21.7, © 1975, Martha Rosler. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY
Semiotics of the Kitchen
Date1975
single-channel video, black and white, sound; 06:09 minutes
On view
Martha Rosler, Roadside Ambush, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, ca. 1967-1972, printed 2018, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2021.7.8, Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York © Martha Rosler
Roadside Ambush, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing…
Dateca. 1967-1972, printed 2018
inkjet print
On view
Martha Rosler, Runway, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, ca. 1967-1972, printed 2018, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2021.7.6, Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York © Martha Rosler
Runway, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War…
Dateca. 1967-1972, printed 2018
inkjet print
On view
Martha Rosler, House Beautiful: Giacometti, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, ca. 1967-1972, printed 2018, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2021.7.20, Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York © Martha Rosler
House Beautiful: Giacometti, from the series House…
Dateca. 1967-1972, printed 2018
inkjet print
On view

More Artworks from the Collection

Bently
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Phil Palmer, 2018 California St., San Francisco, from the Victorian House Project, ca. 1975, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1059, © Phil Palmer Estate
2018 California St., San Francisco, from the Victorian…
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view