Beauty and Life: The Finis Welch Collection

A black-and-white photograph of jagged mountain peaks that rise up behind dark, rounded mountains at the edge of a grassy plain.
February 20–May 8, 2022
Second floor

Newly acquired photographs by Ansel Adams, Edward Steichen, Dorothea Lange, Marco Breuer, Edward Weston, and more are on view for the first time at the Carter in Beauty and Life: The Finis Welch Collection. The exhibition features a selection of artworks from a collection of over 240 photographs and works on paper gifted to the Carter by Texas collector Finis Welch. The gift significantly expands the Museum’s already renowned collection of photography and enhances the Carter’s ability to tell the story of early photographic modernism in America with key work by leading 20th- and 21st-century artists from Alfred Stieglitz to Richard Misrach, both included in the exhibition. Also highlighted in Beauty and Life are two rare vintage works by Paul Outerbridge and a set of Aaron Siskind’s heralded series Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation, as well as key works by Walker Evans and William Eggleston.

Explore Beauty and Life from the comfort of your home with our virtual exhibition tour!

Ansel Adams

Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, California, 1944

Gelatin silver print

A black-and-white photograph of jagged mountain peaks that rise up behind dark, rounded mountains at the edge of a grassy plain.

Aaron Siskind

Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation #99, 1954

Gelatin silver print

A black-and-white photograph of a White man wearing a bathing suit, arms outstretched and legs bent back at the knees, who has just leaped into the air.

Dorothea Lange

Oklahoma Sharecropper and Family Entering California. Stalled on the Desert Near Idaho, ca. 1937

Gelatin silver print

A black-and-white photograph of an old car on the side of a long road and a White man in overalls leaning against the back and two children, also in overalls, standing next to it.

Sam Francis

Untitled SF344/L285, n.d.

Lithograph

A colorful abstract print with splotches and swaths of color in blue, green, yellow, and a large red swath from top to bottom in the center.

Richard Misrach

Wall, East of Nogales, Arizona, 2015

Inkjet print

A color photograph of a dirt road that follows along a tall wall through rolling hills with mountains in the distance.

Manuel Alvarez Bravo

Frida Kahlo with Globe, 1930s

Gelatin silver print

A black-and-white photograph of a seated light-skinned woman, dark hair in braids on top of her head, in a long dress with one elbow resting on a table next to her.

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Installation Photos

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Past Events

Tea & Tours | Beauty and Life

Tuesday, April 5, 2022, 3–4:30 p.m.
Two people sit at a table and sip on tea.

Carter Playdate: Jump and Shout!

Saturday, March 19, 2022, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Two children at a table in the Carter Atrium make art.

Itty-Bitty Art: Do the Twist!

Saturday, March 19, 2022, 10–11 a.m.
A close-up of a toddler sitting in a woman's lap.

Exhibition Talk: The Finis Welch Collection

Thursday, March 10, 2022, 6–7:30 p.m.
A color photograph of a dirt road that follows along a tall wall through rolling hills with mountains in the distance.

Second Thursdays at the Carter: Collect & Capture

Thursday, March 10, 2022, 5–8 p.m.
"Second Thursdays at the Carter"

Toddler Studio: Tumble Party

Saturday, March 5, 2022, 11 a.m.–noon
A toddler colors with a pencil at a red lap desk.

Member preview Days | Beauty and Life: The Finis Welch Collection

February 18 and 19, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
A black-and-white photograph of jagged mountain peaks that rise up behind dark, rounded mountains at the edge of a grassy plain.
All Exhibitions