Smithsonian Acquires Jack Mitchell Photographs

Posted by Aaron Park Aug 31, 2008

The Smithsonian Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C. announced on August 29, 2008 its recent acquisition of vintage images by renowned arts photographer Jack Mitchell.

The 54 large-format photographs, a gift from Mitchell, are portraits of painters and sculptors taken between 1966 and 1977. Included are polished images of such notables as Red Grooms, Duane Hanson, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Nevelson, Claes Oldenburg, Nam June Paik, Philip Pearlstein, Beverly Pepper, Larry Rivers, James Rosenquist, George Segal, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann.

Jack Mitchell (b. 1925) knew many of the visual arts, film and television personalities, musicians he photographed. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, Life, Newsweek, People, Rolling Stone, Time, Vanity Fair and Vogue,among others. He is also known widely for his photographs of dance, having worked for the American Ballet Theater, the Alvin Alley American Dance Theater and other prestigious dance companies. Mitchell has exhibited his work widely in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad for more than four decades. His images are in the collections of the Albright-Knox Museum, Andy Warhol Museum, Harvard University, the International Center of Photography and other institutions.