George Eastman Museum

On May 3, 2026, Carl Chiarenza passed away at the age of 90.

Chiarenza was a notable art historian, critic, educator, and practicing artist, well known for his abstract black-and-white photographs.

His work was first shown at George Eastman Museum in 1959 as part of its ten-year anniversary exhibition "Photography at Mid-Century." In 1995, the museum’s director James Enyeart curated the solo exhibition "Carl Chiarenza: Passages and Transformations" (February 18–June 4, 1995), which featured 37 works made between 1984 and 1994.

The most significant exhibition of his work at the Eastman Museum was the 2021 retrospective "Carl Chiarenza: Journey into the Unknown" (February 4, 2021–June 20, 2021). Curated by William Green, this 70-year retrospective of Carl’s work was accompanied by a catalog published by the George Eastman Museum Publishing Trust Endowment.

As Keith F. Davis noted, Chiarenza’s photographic work “points to much larger truths: the importance not only of understanding the world, but our human agency in creating it.”

📷 Stu Levy (American, b. 1948), "Cranial Czar, eh? / Carl Chiarenza, Rochester N.Y.," 2003. Gelatin silver print. George Eastman Museum, purchase with funds from Janet and Thomas A. Fink.

👋 Members—this one’s for you! Presale for HIDDEN FIGURES is live today 👀

On Thursday, July 16 at 8 p.m., actress Octavia Spencer will have a conversation with Jared Case, curator of film exhibitions, prior to the special screening of HIDDEN FIGURES in the Dryden Theatre.

Any remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wedneaday, July 1 at 10 a.m. 🎟️

📷 Still from HIDDEN FIGURES (Theodore Melfi, US 2016), with Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Photofest © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation