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Maud Morgan and Michael Silver

Untitled

1994
10 1/2 x 13 in. (26.7 x 33 cm)

Medium and Support: photograph and platinum palladium print

Credit Line: museum purchase

Accession Number: 1995.70

Commentary

Gallery label from In Tandem: Inspirations and Collaborations

In 1994, acclaimed painter Maud Morgan began collaborating with photographer Michael Silver, brought together through their mutual friend—and appreciation for—John Cage. The nature of their relationship was entirely complementary; as Morgan described in her autobiography Maud’s Journey: A Life From Art, she “knew nothing about photography, and Michael knew little about painting or collage…. We both thought of these conditions as advantages. I was ninety-one and Michael forty-six. We thought of that as an advantage too… the totally unforced merging of our two psyches fitted with the capabilities of our physiques,” Morgan concluded. And in a statement titled “Working Method,” Silver likened the printing of their work to “a friendly game of chess with each of us reacting to the other with moves, countermoves, etc. The only difference was we both won.” In addition to responding to each other, they also responded to the voice recordings of John Cage and the music of Erik Satie, of which several tracks played simultaneously, in a layered fashion, in their studio.

Kelley Tialiou
Charles H. Sawyer Curatorial Assistant | Librarian | Archivist

Exhibition List

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

In Tandem: Inspirations and Collaborations Addison Gallery of American Art , 9/12/2015 - 1/3/2016

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