Robert and John Lived Here

Larry Wolf, Picnic on the Terrace, pre-1946 (2026)
from HALF 85 neg, University of Illinois Archive RS 31/13/5 Box 6 Negatives

The Sphinx Redux

Larry Wolf, The Sphinx at The Farms (2026)

I've been thinking, again, about the Sphinx at Allerton's place, the gift designed by John Borie, his friend,  architect, traveling companion, perhaps much more. 

Here's a short edit from Oscar Wilde's poem:

A beautiful and silent Sphinx has watched me through the shifting gloom

... who were your lovers?

... how subtle-secret is your smile!

... you kissed his mouth with mouths of flame ... you called him by his secret name

... ruined is the house ... scattered here and there ... in the windy sand  

... his giant granite hand still clenched in impotent despair 

... go seek his fragments ... wake mad passions in the senseless stone!

... are there not others more accursed ... than I?

... watches the world with wearied eyes ... and weeps for every soul

Oscar Wilde, The Sphinx (1894) 
[wikipedia.org/.../The_Sphinx_(poem)] 

 

Larry Wolf, The Sphinx at The Farms (2026)

Earlier Posts

Monday 24 November 2025: The Sphinx 

Saturday 6 December 2025: Reflective Saturday

Slides

Minor White (1908–1976;
born Minneapolis, MN; died Boston, MA;active Portland, OR, and Rochester, NY),
Red van with photography equipment, White River National Forest, Colorado, 1964.
35mm slide. The Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum,
bequest of Minor White (MWA SL 64-18)

Photography as a Way of Life: From Archive to Exhibition

White liked the way that shooting color slides shifted his attention away from careful planning toward rapid seeing. As slides returned in boxes after processing, White was provoked by the way they accumulated in large numbers, inviting him to shuffle them into new combinations like a deck of cards. He embraced slide projection as a way of sharing color images with viewers, and he came to think of color as a medium for live audiences. 

Brendan Fay, July 27, 2026

Essay: From Archive to Exhibition

Exhibition: Photography as a Way of Life

Minor White Artist Books

Larry Wolf, Edges of Minor's Art Books (2026)

Minor White, Princeton University Art Museum, type=albums

Photographs At Your Service (1941) / x1980-106/337

Amputations / Second Sequence (1947) / x1980-377/667

Song Without Words (1947) / x1980-671/1123

Vicinity of North Wall, Point Lobos State Park, California (May 27, 1947) / x1980-670 and x1980-671 [single page, twice]

Sequence 3: Knotholes and Doorknobs (1948) / x1980-640/1116

Mendocino (1948) / x1980-878/972

The Temptation of Saint Anthony is Mirrors (1948) / x1980-835/1117

These Images (1950) / x1980-670/1122

Fifth Sequence: Portrait of the Young Man as Actor / Portland Art Museum

Sequence 13 / Return to the Bud (1958) / x1980-102/3404

Sequence 13: Ashes are for Burning / A Cinema of Stills (1958) / x1980-103/3402

Unhearable

Larry Wolf, Poet Noa Micaela Fields and Alphabet Artist Nat Pyper at Wrightwood 659 (2026)
Published in Sixty Inches from the Center

AGM

Larry Wolf, AGM on I-65 (2026)

Charlie Porter reading Nova Scotia House
Chapter 8, Protest at the AGM (2025)
Larry Wolf, screenshot (2026)

What's This?

Minor White, Space, Analysis, Recognition: A Style Analysis for Photographers, 1946-1949
SFMOMA 

Artwork Info

Artwork title: Space, Analysis, Recognition: A Style Analysis for Photographers

Artist name: Minor White

Date created: 1946-1949

Classification: artist's book

Medium: book maquette with 7 gelatin silver prints with typed manuscript

Dimensions: 7 × 9 in. (17.8 × 22.9 cm) 

Date acquired: 2023

Credit: Collection SFMOMA / Gift of Gary B. Sokol

Copyright: Reproduced with the permission of the Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum. © Trustees of Princeton University

Permanent URL: https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/2023.418.1-8

Artwork status: Not on view at this time.