Aaron Siskind

(American, 1903–1991)

Aaron Siskind was an American photographer best known for his black-and-white, close range, and aerial photos of surfaces and objects. With the transformative properties of monochromes and their lack of scale or context, Siskind’s photos can seem both sculptural and vast or diminutive and painterly. Their ambiguity has caused spectators to “muse (sometimes in print) in front of a Siskind photograph like analysands in front of ink blots,” wrote art critic Thomas B. Hess. Born on December 4, 1903 in New York, NY, Siskind didn’t begin photographing until he received a camera as a wedding gift and soon after joined the New York Photo League. His work follows in the lineage of Bauhaus photographer László Moholy-Nagy and American photographer Harry Callahan, inspired by their formal and technical approaches to the medium. His works—which range in subject matter from volcanic lava to graffitied walls—are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., among others. Siskind died on February 8, 1991 in Providence, RI.

Related Categories

Bauhaus, Impressionist and Modern Art, Photography

Related Artists

Harry Callahan, László Moholy-Nagy

Aaron Siskind Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Aaron Siskind (1,918 results)
Providence 20, 1972

Aaron Siskind

Providence 20, 1972

Sale Date: December 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled (from Harlem document), 1932

Aaron Siskind

Untitled (from Harlem document), 1932

Sale Date: December 13, 2010

Auction Closed

Olive tree, Corfu 19, 1970

Aaron Siskind

Olive tree, Corfu 19, 1970

Sale Date: December 8, 2010

Auction Closed

New York 288, 1978

Aaron Siskind

New York 288, 1978

Sale Date: November 19, 2010

Auction Closed

Millerton, 1971

Aaron Siskind

Millerton, 1971

Sale Date: November 19, 2010

Auction Closed

Chicago facade 7, 1960

Aaron Siskind

Chicago facade 7, 1960

Sale Date: November 26, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled (from Harlem document), 1937–1940

Aaron Siskind

Untitled (from Harlem document), 1937–1940

Sale Date: November 13, 2010

Auction Closed

New York 329, 1978

Aaron Siskind

New York 329, 1978

Sale Date: November 2, 2010

Auction Closed

Jerome, Arizona, 1949

Aaron Siskind

Jerome, Arizona, 1949

Sale Date: November 2, 2010

Auction Closed

Peru 359 (+ Peru 222; 2 works), 1983

Aaron Siskind

Peru 359 (+ Peru 222; 2 works), 1983

Sale Date: October 19, 2010

Auction Closed

Westport 28 (+ Westport 48; 2 works), 1988

Aaron Siskind

Westport 28 (+ Westport 48; 2 works), 1988

Sale Date: October 19, 2010

Auction Closed

Chicago 9c, 1948

Aaron Siskind

Chicago 9c, 1948

Sale Date: October 21, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled (Rock formation, Martha's Vineyard?), 1950

Aaron Siskind

Untitled (Rock formation, Martha's Vineyard?), 1950

Sale Date: October 21, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled (+ 6 others, smllr; 7 works), 1939–1988

Aaron Siskind

Untitled (+ 6 others, smllr; 7 works), 1939–1988

Sale Date: October 8, 2010

Auction Closed

Performer club of America, 1953

Aaron Siskind

Performer club of America, 1953

Sale Date: October 8, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled, pl. 150 (from Pleasures and..., 1954–1961

Aaron Siskind

Untitled, pl. 150 (from Pleasures and..., 1954–1961

Sale Date: October 6, 2010

Auction Closed

New York 6, 1951

Aaron Siskind

New York 6, 1951

Sale Date: October 6, 2010

Auction Closed

California 1, 1975

Aaron Siskind

California 1, 1975

Sale Date: September 24, 2010

Auction Closed

Olmec Villahermosa 20, 1973

Aaron Siskind

Olmec Villahermosa 20, 1973

Sale Date: September 24, 2010

Auction Closed

Bad lands 72, 1970

Aaron Siskind

Bad lands 72, 1970

Sale Date: September 24, 2010

Auction Closed

New York 202, 1978

Aaron Siskind

New York 202, 1978

Sale Date: September 19, 2010

Auction Closed

Motion study (triptych), 1955

Aaron Siskind

Motion study (triptych), 1955

Sale Date: October 6, 1999

Auction Closed

Pleasures and terrors of levitation 37, 1953

Aaron Siskind

Pleasures and terrors of levitation 37, 1953

Sale Date: April 30, 2010

Auction Closed

Sicily 281, 1980

Aaron Siskind

Sicily 281, 1980

Sale Date: April 30, 2009

Auction Closed

English (US)

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