July 4th Celebration, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY

Robert K. Hower, July 4th Celebration, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY, 1976, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.786, ©1976, Robert K. Hower
Copied Robert K. Hower, July 4th Celebration, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY, 1976, gelatin silver print, image: 13 3⁄4 x 8 5⁄8 in. (34.9 x 21.9 cm) sheet: 14 in. x 10 7⁄8 in. (35.5 x 27.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.786, ©1976, Robert K. Hower

Artwork Details

Title
July 4th Celebration, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY
Artist
Date
1976
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 13 3⁄4 x 8 5⁄8 in. (34.9 x 21.9 cm) sheet: 14 in. x 10 7⁄8 in. (35.5 x 27.6 cm)
Copyright
©1976, Robert K. Hower
Credit Line
Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Exterior — other — parking lot
  • Cityscape — Kentucky — Louisville
  • Ceremony — other — fireworks
  • Ceremony — holiday — Fourth of July
  • Figure group — male
  • Architecture — vehicle — automobile
Object Number
1983.63.786
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.63.786

Artwork Description

Smoke fills the air as fireworks stream down on a Louisville parking lot. Nearby, a group of men huddle around the engine of a wrecked race car, unaware of the festivities surrounding them. Marking the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, Robert Hower juxtaposed two distinctly American traditions: Fourth of July fireworks and automobiles. Hower participated in a photographic survey of Kentucky sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts, which was intended to commemorate this landmark event in U.S. history. A wide range of people posed for his camera, many in front of their homes and with their families, in rural areas of the state that most viewers would otherwise never see.


A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2013