Church in New England (Lancaster, New Hampshire)
| Artist | Arthur Rothstein (American, 1915–1985) |
|---|---|
| Title | Church in New England (Lancaster, New Hampshire) |
| Date | February 1936 |
| Medium | Gelatin silver print |
| Dimensions | Image: 7 9/16 × 9 9/16 in. (19.2 × 24.3 cm) Sheet: 7 15/16 × 9 15/16 in. (20.2 × 25.3 cm) |
| Credit Line | Henry Holmes Smith Archive, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 79.200.XX.2.1 |
| This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request. | |
A horizontal black-and-white photograph depicts a small church covered in snow and surrounded by barren trees and a quiet town.
Arthur Rothstein was the first photographer hired by the Resettlement Administration (later called the Farm Security Administration) and one of the earliest of these photographers to document New England. Unlike many of the other FSA photographers, he often preferred architectural forms to social commentary. This is not to say that his images are devoid of political subtext. Illustrated in Samuel Chamberlain's Fair is Our Land (1942), this image became an emblem of American partriotism and freedom. Unlike Dorothea Lange's lonely, weathered, churches on the plains, Rothstein's pristine wooden Carpenter Gothic-style church (with its neighboring house) is an archtectural jewel, glowing radiantely in the new-fallen snow. It represented a nostalgia for a simpler past and resounding reaffirmation of the great "American Dream." Rothstein held a strong belief in the universal power of photographs to help improve people's lives.
| Publisher | Resettlement Administration |
|---|
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Church in New England (Lancaster, New Hampshire) | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=79.200.XX.2.1