The Ringling is excited to feature a selection of works from the museum’s Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Collection of Photography. This collection, generously donated to The Ringling in 2019, includes over 1000 photographic objects and images, representing some of the most important photo-based artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Kaplan Collection includes works by such notables as Berenice Abbott, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Eugène Atget, Ruth Bernhard, Margaret Bourke-White, Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lewis W. Hine, André Kertész, Robert Mapplethorpe, Edward Weston, and James Van Der Zee, to name but a few. These artists, from the US, Mexico, and Europe, endure as some of the most influential figures in the history of the medium. Their images demonstrate the variety of perspectives and artistic visions that emerged as photographers sought new ways to give expression to the experiences of the modern world.

This exhibition is a part of the Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Photography and Media Arts Program at The Ringling.

Paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues. Support for this exhibition was provided by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, the Herald Tribune, and the Selby Foundation Ringling Museum Endowment. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Image: Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908-2004)
Brussels, Belgium, 1932; printed later
Gelatin silver print
14 1/4 × 9 1/2 in. (36.2 × 24.1 cm)
Gift of Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan, 2019. SN11678.93
© Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos