The Robert Koch Gallery’s 2019-2020 season celebrates our 40 year anniversary with programing that reflects the breadth of work the gallery has exhibited and acquired during its history. Our anniversary programing continues this month, pairing John Beasley Greene, active in the early 1850s, and contemporary artist Adam Katseff’s Waterfall series. Though the appearance of Greene’s and Katseff’s work is quite different, both artists explore the landscape with a minimalist modern aesthetic. With his investigations of archeological sites in Egypt and Algeria, Greene is recognized as one of the most significant landscape photographers, not only of the 19th century, but of the medium’s history. SFMOMA mounted the first one-person museum exhibition of John Beasley Greene’s photographs which was on view August 31, 2019 through January 5, 2020, and published the accompanying exhibition catalog Signs and Wonders: The Photographs of John Beasley Greene.

Both Adam Katseff’s Waterfall series and John Beasley Greene’s photographs are images that are recognizable yet are imbued with inexplicable mystery that implores viewers to connect with the works using their personal history and imagination to interpret the images. It is this extraordinary power of art, whether found in 19th century photographs, avant-garde work of the early 20th century, or contemporary work, that sustains our passion for the photographic medium.