top of page
Wall Drug final billboard by John Margolies

Wall Drug final billboard by John Margolies

ABOUT THIS COLLECTION  

Margolies (1940-2016) is considered the country’s foremost photographer of vernacular architecture—the coffee shops shaped like coffee pots; the gas station shaped like a dinosaur; and the motels that took the shape of everything from wigwams to zeppelins. Starting in 1969 and for a period of 40 years, Margolies traveled 100,000 miles across the contiguous 48 states to document the architecture and signage of buildings that expressed the ingenuity and eccentricity of America’s entrepreneurial energy after World War II. These “exclamation points” on the landscape, few and far between today, were gradually put out of business by air travel, interstate highways and big-box stores. Margolies produced a number of richly illustrated books from his photographs, including “John Margolies: Roadside America” (2010). While his work helped put some roadside buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, in many cases the only remaining record of these buildings is on Margolies' film.   

 

COLLECTION DETAILS

  • Series title: Roadside America
  • Series size: 12 artworks
  • Edition: Limited edition of 1000
  • Proof of Ownership: Certification on the Ethereum blockchain under the ERC1155 protocol. Each artwork is delivered privately and directly to collectors as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that guarrante proof of ownership.
  • Format: Pieces consist of PNG files sized 2160x3840 pixels - 150 dpi.
  • Medium: Photography
  • Artwork materials:  Photographic paper
  • Contract Address: 0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e
  • ID: 2749212597480566...

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in New Canaan, CT., Margolies developed a love for vernacular architecture sitting in the backseat of his parents’ car on road trips.  At the age of 29, he began his journey to document that architecture with his camera on trips as long as eight weeks at a stretch. Shooting with a 35mm Canon FT along with ASA 25 film to obtain maximum color saturation that you see in his photographs, he captured his subjects with as little artistic intervention as possible. He shot them all against a cloudless blue sky early in the morning,, without any distractions like people, litter (he carried a broom in his car to sweep any debris), or even parked cars (with a few exceptions). His images are straightforward (sometimes shot at an angle to give a better view of its details) and unsentimental, with a tight edge-to-edge crop that indicates what he exactly wanted you to see. “I would go out by myself and I’d turn myself into a camera. Go in a hotel room and collapse, and get up the next morning and do it again and again and again. And I loved it,” he said.

 

COLLECTION CREDITS

  • Historical curatorship: HARI - Historical Art Research Institute (HARI Editions)
  • Artwork: John Margolies
  • Year of original publication: 1969
  • Post-production: HARI - Historical Art Research Institute (HARI Editions)
  • Digital art supervisor: Marie-Lou Desmeules
  • Editorial: Braden Phillips
  • Historical research: Evangelos Rosios, Braden Phillips
  • Executive production: Victor Zabrockis

 

RIGHTS OVERVIEW

  • Source of artwork: Library of Congress
  • Underlying work rights: No Known Restrictions
  • Digital copyrights: No additional rights

    Productos relacionados

    ¿Necesita ayuda?  Infórmenos. 

    El equipo de asesores de coleccionistas y patrocinadores de HARI se comunicará con usted dentro de las 24 horas para aclarar cualquier duda que tengas y ayudarlo con su descubrimiento de arte digital.