Amon Carter print details

Martha Graham - Ekstasis (Torso)

Barbara Morgan (1900-1992)

Object Details

  • Date

    1935, printed 1972

  • Object Type

    Photographs

  • Medium

    Gelatin silver print

  • Dimensions

    Image: 18 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.
    Sheet: 18 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.
    Mount: 27 1/8 x 21 in.

  • Inscriptions

    Mount, Recto:

    l.r. signed: Barbara Morgan--1935

    Inscription: Martha Graham--EKSTASIS

    Mount, Verso:

    Martha Graham--EKSTASIS--1935--(Torso)/Barbara Morgan-- \ Archivally Printed--1972/BBM. \ 18-3/8 x 13-5/8 ON 27 x 21

    [rubber stamp]: COPYRIGHT PHOTO \ Not To Be Reproduced \ Without Written Permission \ BARBARA MORGAN \ 120 High Point Road \ Scarsdale, New York 10584 \ WHEN USED IN ANY MEDIA \ CREDIT MUST BE GIVEN: \ PHOTOGRAPH BY BARBARA MORGAN \ NO ARBITRARY CROPPING MAYBE [sic] DONE

  • Credit Line

    Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

  • Accession Number

    P1974.21.20

  • Copyright

    © Barbara and Willard Morgan photographs and papers, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA

Object Description

Dance is about movement, but this photograph presents stillness—choreographer and dancer Martha Graham transformed into classical sculpture. Her columnar body, clad in a sheath dress, seems monumental despite her short stature (she was only 4 feet, 11 inches). Although a dancer’s feet and hands are integral to their expressive movement, Morgan crops this image closely to show only Graham’s torso and legs, recalling the way ancient Greek sculptures are often found with extremities missing, a fitting connection given the Greek title.

Although she also made portraits and landscapes and experimented in the darkroom, Morgan remains best known for her iconic photographs of American modernist dance. First developed in 1933, the choreography to “Ekstasis” was long ago lost without video or choreographic notation, but in 2017 it was reconstructed based in part on Morgan’s photographs.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)

Additional details

Location: Off view
W28-artist-CMYK-CarterBlack
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