Christina and Gram on Thanksgiving, New Hampshire

Virginia Beahan, Christina and Gram on Thanksgiving, New Hampshire, 2004, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan, 2010.6.1, © Virginia Beahan
Copied Virginia Beahan, Christina and Gram on Thanksgiving, New Hampshire, 2004, chromogenic print, 18 3823 14 in. (46.659.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan, 2010.6.1, © Virginia Beahan

Artwork Details

Title
Christina and Gram on Thanksgiving, New Hampshire
Date
2004
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 3823 14 in. (46.659.2 cm)
Copyright
© Virginia Beahan
Credit Line
Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan
Mediums Description
chromogenic print
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group — female
  • Ceremony — holiday — Thanksgiving
  • Object — furniture — couch
  • Architecture Interior — domestic — living room
Object Number
2010.6.1

Artwork Description

When her eighty-nine-year-old mother was stricken with dementia and no longer able to care for herself, Virginia Beahan and her husband moved her into their home. A landscape photographer accustomed to traveling extensively, Beahan at first found her prospects constrained by these circumstances, but she quickly discovered a new subject for her lens. Beahan documented the last years of her mother’s life with compassion as well as a clear-eyed accounting of the difficulties that came with the reversal of their roles.

Close to Home: Photographers and their Families, 2011