Artist

Alfredo Jaar

born Santiago, Chile 1956
Born
Santiago, Chile
Active in
  • New York, New York, United States

Works by this artist (240 items)

Paul Cadmus, Night in Bologna, 1958, egg tempera on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.87
Night in Bologna
Date1958
egg tempera on fiberboard
On view
Paul Cadmus, Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf, 1936, oil and tempera on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of State, 1978.76.1
Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf
Date1936
oil and tempera on fiberboard
On view
Jared French, Margaret French, PaJaMa, Paul Cadmus, PaJaMa (Box A), ca. 1937, gelatin silver prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Margaret French, 1999.98.5.16
PaJaMa (Box A)
Dateca. 1937
gelatin silver prints
Not on view
Jared French, Margaret French, PaJaMa, Paul Cadmus, PaJaMa (Box A), ca. 1937, gelatin silver prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Margaret French, 1999.98.5.15
PaJaMa (Box A)
Dateca. 1937
gelatin silver prints
Not on view

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      When Chilean-born artist Alfredo Jaar moved to New York in 1982, he was troubled to discover that racial tensions still ran high long after the civil rights movement had passed its zenith. In Life Magazine, April 19, 1968, he manipulated the iconic photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral procession to highlight the disparity between the number of black and white mourners. Jaar's decision to present the work as a triptych, a traditional format for Christian altarpieces, helps identify King as a martyr.

      Exhibitions

      A photograph of a tricycle at a low angle
      A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
      June 27, 2013January 5, 2014
      A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrates the numerous ways in which photography, from early daguerreotypes to contemporary digital works, has captured the American experience.

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