Clarence John Laughlin

(AMERICAN, 1905 - 1985)

Laughlin worked in New Orleans and found inspiration in the city’s faded grandeur. He developed what he termed as his own “visual poetry” by borrowing elements from modern photography—such as strong compositions and highly glossy printing techniques—and imbuing his images with mysterious symbolism. Here, Laughlin stages a tableau of enigmatic richness: a woman in black stands amid broken mirror shards and crumbling walls, holding a wood frame out of which stares the decapitated head of a sculpture. The blurred movement of the woman’s veil emphasizes the scene’s surreal, ghostly quality. ~ The Metropolitan Museum of Art