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Collage of five diverse artworks from the Hammer Museum Collections side by side. From left to right: 1) Contemporary painting of two embracing figures with surreal elements. 2) Post-impressionist style painting of trees with vibrant blues and greens. 3) Black and white illustration of a face with intricate patterns. 4) Japanese woodblock print style image of a figure in a checkered robe. 5) Photograph of a couple dancing, the woman in a black dress and the man in white

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Digital Archive Take It or Leave It: Institution, Image, Ideology
Art Haim Steinbach, Shelf Arrangement for the Wachtel's Stairway, Hampton Bays, New York
Shelf Arrangement for the Wachtel's Stairway, Hampton Bays, New York, by Haim Steinbach, 1982

Haim Steinbach, Artist
Shelf Arrangement for the Wachtel's Stairway, Hampton Bays, New York , 1982

Medium
Photograph
Dimensions
14 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (36.8 x 28.6 cm)
Credit Line
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Purchase. Image courtesy Haim Steinbach and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

In the early 1980s Haim Steinbach visited the homes of several acquaintances, colleagues, and friends to make a series of photographs inspired by a shelf in his childhood home that displayed various knickknacks. Selecting from his friends' belongings, he made studied arrangements and then photographed the tableaux. The resulting images are like portraits of the owners' objects and demonstrate the descriptive power of the items we acquire or are given.