A blurred figure walking down a staircase
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

In spare black and white we see in a white room, the zigzag profile of a white staircase with its steps edged in bold black, rising from the lower left corner to the upper right corner. A row of narrow vertical bars rises alongside the steps, supporting the railing, which we only glimpse in the upper left corner. At left, beyond the railing, the legs of a blurred figure can be seen walking down the steps. The figure is cut off from view by a narrow gray strip running across the length of the top of the photograph.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.36
People
Peter Keetman, German (Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany 1916 - 2005 Marquartstein, Germany)
Title
Staircase
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Treppe
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph
Date
1955, printed later
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/221506

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gelatin silver print
Technique
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 23.1 x 30.5 cm (9 1/8 x 12 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: on verso in graphite at u.r.: Peter Keetman
  • inscription: on verso at u.r., graphite, handwritten: 6/3641
  • stamp: on verso at u.r., black ink: FOTO * URHEBERRECHT // PETER KEETMAN // 8211 BREITBRUNN // AM CHIEMSEE * TEL. 305
  • inscription: on verso at u.r., graphite, handwritten: Treppe
  • inscription: on verso at u.r., graphite, handwritten: 1955/82

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Purchase through the generosity of the Cultural Council in the Federation of German Industry
Copyright
© Estate of Peter Keetman
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.36
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • Aspects of Art in West Germany, 1945-1965, Harvard University Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 08/22/1992 - 10/18/1992
  • 32Q: 1110 Mid-Century Abstraction II (Post-Painterly Abstraction), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/12/2017 - 04/12/2018

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu