Mrs. Dodson, Old Rag, VA (Primary Title)
Arthur Rothstein, American, 1915 – 1985 (Artist)
During Arthur Rothstein’s 1935 journey through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, the photographer captured several images at the Dodson family home. He was principally employed by the Resettlement Administration to document the meager conditions of farmers living in the remote mountains. Yet, Mrs. Dodson, Old Rag, VA records a moment of filial affection set against an deeply obscured background and a foreground defined by strong horizontal lines of the clapboard siding. The mother and child are offset by an aesthetic influenced by the dynamic compositions of modern photography. While Rothstein saw himself as an unapologetically objective investigator who used “the camera as a record[ing] mechanism,” his photographs belie that intention with an apparent compassion for his subjects.
Signed in graphite below image: "Arthur Rothstein".
Photographer's stamp in black ink: "Arthur Rothstein/ photograph/ from the collection of/ Grace Rothstein".
Stamp in black ink: "Arthur Rothstein".
Inscribed in graphite on print verso: [encircled] "14".
Inscribed in red graphite on print verso: [encircled] "7".
Inscribed, titled, and dated in graphite in an unidentified hand: "DF-9142 FSA 2186 - Mrs. Dodson, Old Rag, Va. 1935".
Kathleen Boone Samuels Memorial Fund
The Likeness of Labor, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, October 17, 2015 - April 10, 2016
©artist or artist’s estate
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