In this series, Lagniappe presents works from the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, with commentary from a curator.
The holiday season can be a stressful time of year. The pressure of errands, preparation, high expectations and familial obligations can sometimes erupt through all of the warm feelings that we draw from those same elements, like giving gifts, delicious meals and extended time with family and friends.
Although not in December, Pat Sabatine’s April birthday was still a holiday (certainly it was for Pat), and in this photograph, we might recognize some frustration bubbling over for a young celebrant despite the strawberry-studded chocolate cake before him.
Exactly what upset the young man is unclear and perhaps unimportant. Even during an otherwise joyous celebration, emotions and feelings of the opposite nature can arise unexpectedly and dramatically. In that, this photograph shows us a deeply human moment and a familiar one on any holiday.
Photographer Larry Fink died on Nov. 25. During his career, Fink became perhaps best known as a photographer of social gatherings. His interest, however, was less in an event itself than exploring truths of human relationships on display at those functions and in leveling class distinctions.
For instance, in his series "Social Graces," from which this photograph is drawn, Fink juxtaposed the excess of wealthy Manhattanites with folks like the Sabatine family in Martin’s Creek, Pennsylvania, (with whom Fink spent many years). Like much of Fink’s work, this photograph is suffused with spontaneity and humor, and an insistence on the complicated nature of the human experience.
Brian Piper, Freeman Family Curator of Photographs, Prints, and Drawings