Gunfight at the O.K. Corral from the series History

Media - 2017.41.28 - SAAM-2017.41.28_1 - 134091
Copied David Levinthal, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral from the series History, 2014, inkjet print, 17 × 22 in. (43.2 × 55.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Donald Standford Rosenfeld, Jr., 2017.41.28, © 2014, David Levinthal

Artwork Details

Title
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral from the series History
Artist
Date
2014
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
17 × 22 in. (43.2 × 55.9 cm)
Copyright
© 2014, David Levinthal
Credit Line
Gift of Donald Standford Rosenfeld, Jr.
Mediums Description
inkjet print
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group — male
  • Western
  • State of being — illness — wound
  • Occupation — service — policeman
  • State of being — evil — violence
  • Architecture Exterior — farm — stable
  • Object — weapon — gun
  • Occupation — crime — criminal
Object Number
2017.41.28
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2017.41.28

Artwork Description

The legendary shootout at the O.K. Corral took place on October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona. A group of lawmen, including the Earp brothers--Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan--and Doc Holliday, faced off against an outlaw gang who called themselves the Cowboys. Even though the event lasted a mere thirty seconds and was a rare occurrence in the West, it continues to resonate in popular imagination, inspiring countless cinematic treatments and daily reenactments in Tombstone. Levinthal's own restaging calls attention to the mythic status of the historic gunfight, which came to epitomize the "wildness" of the Old West.

Exhibitions

Media - 2017.32.10 - SAAM-2017.32.10_1 - 133751
American Myth & Memory: David Levinthal Photographs 
June 7, 2019–October 14, 2019
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Populated with toy cowboys and cavalry, Barbie dolls and baseball players, David Levinthal’s photographs reference iconic images and events that shaped postwar American society.