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American Photographer · 1896–1958

ArtistAuthor

> Art is life seen through man's inner craving for perfection and beauty--his escape from the sordid realities of life into a world of his imagining. Art accounts for at least a third of our civilization, and it is one of the artist's principal duties to do more than merely record life or nature. To the artist is given the privilege of pointing the way and inspiring towards a better life. > > --Pa

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Date: about 1938
Medium: Carbro print
Culture: American
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

Paul Outerbridge probably made this image of a single-family suburban home, symbol of the American dream, as a part of an advertisement for a construction company. Set back from the street with a generous lawn and newly planted trees, the homes in this development would have greatly appealed to young families who were looking to retreat from congested urban centers such as Chicago and New York in the 1930s. The blue sky with billowy white clouds completes the presentation of a serene suburb. Outerbridge may never have intended for this image to be seen on its own. He actually used the photograph as part of a second composition, entitled *Tools with Blueprint.*

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