Book: The Coliseum by Piranesi #2

1995, printed c. 1999

Book: The Coliseum by Piranesi #2, 1995, printed c. 1999. Abelardo Morell (American, 1948-). Gelatin silver print ; image: 56.8 x 45.7 cm (22 3/8 x 18 in.); paper: 60.6 x 50.7 cm (23 7/8 x 19 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Tom E. Hinson and Diana S. Tittle 2022.64 “One day in 1993,” says Abelardo Morell, “I was looking at a book of works by El Greco. As I turned a page, its surface caught light from a window at a funny angle, changing a reproduction of a painting into a shimmering distortion. What I saw wasn’t El Greco anymore, but it was a beautiful new image nonetheless. I photographed this effect and was immediately inspired to find other ways of seeing books in a new light, so to speak. . . . At times, I have been convinced that books hold all the material of life- at least the stuff that fits between an A and a Z.” Born in Havana, Cuba, Abelardo Morell immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1962 at age 14.