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Howard Cosell
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'American Flag in Brick Wall" by photographer Robert Frank is from a series projecting spontaneous mOillentS in American life.
U-N Museum of Art shows 19 photos from Baker collection.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
1,1
orris Baker, local architect captivat-
ed by photography — and Arnold
Newman, an international photog-
rapher captivated by architecture
— have opened doors to views of modernism
through an exhibit at the University of Michigan
Museum of Art.
"People and Places: The Baker Gift of 20th
Century Photography" runs through Feb. 10 and
introduces part of a collection amassed by the late
Morris Baker, a U-M architectural graduate, and
his widow, Beverly, a U-M music graduate.
About 100 photos were donated to the universi-
ty almost two years ago under the auspices of the
Baker Foundation.
The photographer with the largest representation
in this exhibit is Newman — known as the father
of environmental photography because of the
buildings and backgrounds he includes with his
celebrity portraits. Five Newman images are on
display [See accompanying article].
Mondrian, for example, shows the
Other works featured in this
subject in his apartment studio. An
exhibit, many landscapes and
easel and other forms repeat the geo-
cityscapes, are by Robert Frank,
metric shapes that define Mondrian's
Aaron Siskind, Paul J. Woolf, Robert
signature style and exemplify .the
Haiko, Ed Sievers, Joe Deal, Bernard
way
in which the photographer uses
Descamps and Ernst Haas. One of
the
built
environment to enhance
three donated copies of Camera
the
understanding
of a subject.
Work, a journal published by leg-
American Flag in Brick Wall, a
endary photographer Alfred Stieglitz
1956 cityscape by Frank, pictures
at the beginning of the 20th century,
people and cars and is from a series
also is on display.
"The collection is all my
projecting spontaneous moments in
"This will be the first time we've
husband's doing," says
American life. In contrast, a seascape
ever shown images from the Baker
Beverly Baker, referring to by Siskind suggests a very different
collection," says Sean Ulmer, univer-
her kite husbanch
mood with small waves slowly mov-
sity curator of modern and contem-
"He had an eye for art
ing onto a beach and giving a sense
porary art who selected 19 representa-
and based his choices on
of quietude.
tive works from the collection.
the excellence of the work."
The museum plans to show more
"We are very excited about the
of the Baker Foundation collection
high level of photography that cap-
— including images by Samuel Gottscho, Eileen
tures the identities of people and places referenced
Rubinstein, Paul Krot, Jewel Stern and Ray
in the exhibit title — and we picked photos that
Metzker — in upcoming exhibits. Because of the
are strong, powerful, riveting and able to elicit an
fragile nature of any works on paper, extra care is
immediate response."
Newman's image of abstract painter Piet
BAKER on page 57