Gretchen Garner (December 27, 1939 – February 15, 2017) was an American

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, curator, writer, teacher, and self-taught photographer.

Biography

Education

Garner was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She enrolled at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1965 and received her BA degree in

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

. After graduating, Garner spent a year studying photography on her own with her father’s 35mm camera. Between 1973–75, Garner studied photography at the School of Art institute in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

where she took her MFA.

Career

While working as a photographer, photo editor, and instructor Garner raised two children in Chicago and Evanston,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Garner worked as a press photographer at the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

''. Garner taught fine arts photography and history of photography at such universities as

Grand Valley State College Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

in Allendale, Michigan;

Moore College of Art and Design Moore College of Art & Design is a private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1848 by Sarah Worthington Peter as the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, and was renamed the Moore College of Art & Design in 1989. ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, where she also served as the Chair of the Art and Art History Department.

Later life and death

During Garner's later life, she continued to write scholarly articles, exhibition catalogs and books. Her last book was ''Winold Reiss and the Cincinnati Union Terminal'' where Garner reawakens Reiss’ full-color images of the mosaic murals in the

Cincinnati Union Terminal Cincinnati Union Terminal is an intercity train station and museum center in the Queensgate, Cincinnati, Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Commonly abbreviated as CUT, or by its Amtrak station code, CIN, the Railroad terminal, termin ...

. In the 1980s, Garner was inspired by the countryside around Chicago and which inspired her to take up outdoor photography. She then travel around the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

for a decade. Some of the landscapes Garner portrayed included

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. During the 1980s she also served as the Head, Department of Art at the

from 1989–1992 and served as a Professor there until 1994. From there, Garner transferred to Moore College of Art and Design to become an Academic Dean until 1997. Garner was an adjunct professor as well as visiting artist for The

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

between 2003–2007. From 2007–2017 Garner resided in her residence in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

until she died at the age of 77.

Contributions and influence

Feminist art history

Garner’s contribution to feminist art history is especially notable. Her exhibition ''Reclaiming Paradise: American Women Photograph the Land (1987)'' was widely popular, traveling to thirteen different location sites within two years. This catalog traces the lives of nineteenth-and twentieth-century women and their relationship with the landscape. Garner redressed the exclusion of women from the landscape canon throughout her writing. Her catalog for this exhibition became a primary source on women and modern American photography.

Contemporary landscape photography: "The New Metaphorics"

In opposition to William Jenkins’s ''New Topographics'' gambit'','' Garner advocated for a “New Metaphorics.” Garner, along with photographer and critic Deborah Bright, critiqued the work of the ''New Topographics'' as having a macho undertone. Garner’s work showcased her own perspectives on documentary photography. The debate over documentary landscape photography remains an important component in contemporary landscape photography, but especially that of the 1970–80’s.

Publications

*''Disappearing Witness: Change in Twentieth-Century American Photography''. Johns Hopkins Press, 2003. * *''Winold Reiss and the Cincinnati Union Terminal'' Ohio University Press; 1st ed. (2016) *''Six Ideas in Photography: A Celebration of Photography's Sesquicentennial, 1989.'' *''Landscapes 1981–1988,'' 1989. *''Reclaiming Paradise: American Women Photograph the Land,'' 1987. *''An Art History of Ephemera: Gretchen Garner's Catalog, Photographs, 1976–1978.''

Photographic work

*"Vanitas" 1980. *""Portfolio '74" 1974. *"Landscapes," 1990. *"Jamaica."

Exhibitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Gretchen 1939 births 2017 deaths Writers from Minneapolis University of Chicago alumni American art historians American women art historians 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers Moore College of Art and Design faculty 20th-century American photographers American women writers 20th-century American women photographers American women academics 21st-century American women artists