The Red Ceiling

The Red Ceiling
ArtistWilliam Eggleston
Year1973
TypePhotograph
MediumDye transfer print
Dimensions35.2 cm × 55.1 cm (13.9 in × 21.7 in)
LocationGetty Center; Museum of Modern Art

The Red Ceiling is a photograph by William Eggleston. Its formal title is Greenwood, Mississippi. Eggleston took the photo at the home of his friend Dr. Thomas Chester Boring, Jr., at 508 Macarthur St. in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Process

The photograph is a dye transfer print measuring 13+7⁄8 by 21+11⁄16 inches (35.2 by 55.1 cm). Eggleston considers it among his most challenging and powerful works, "so powerful that, in fact, I've never seen it reproduced on the page to my satisfaction".[1]

Reception and legacy

A copy of the photograph is held by the J. Paul Getty Museum, but is currently not on view at the Getty Center.[1] Another copy is held by the Museum of Modern Art.[2]

It has been described as Eggleston's "most famous photograph," with "some indefinable sense of menace".[3] It is widely recognised as the album cover for the record Radio City (1974) by the Memphis band Big Star.

References

  1. ^ a b J. Paul Getty Museum. Greenwood, Mississippi. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
  2. ^ Museum of Modern Art. William Eggleston. (American, born 1939). Greenwood, Mississippi. 1973. Retrieved September 6, 2008
  3. ^ O'Hagan, Sean. Out of the ordinary. The Observer, July 25, 2004. Retrieved September 6, 2008.

Bibliography

Jane Flowers [1] The True Legacy of Dr Tom Boring, An Unsolved Murder Mystery Biography, published June 18, 2020