The artist portrays himself as a barely perceptible, shadowy presence reflected in a window left of center. Positioned in front of him is a precisely rendered telephone, presented as a substitute or surrogate self. “It was my aim to eliminate the evidence of painting as such and to present a design giving the least evidence of the means of accomplishment,” Sheeler said. He originally titled this work Audubon 451, after his telephone exchange—a local number you would call to be connected to an operator at a switchboard.
Gallery label from 2024
