William Eggleston's American Color Retrospective in Rio de Janeiro Showcases Early Decades

From March 14 to June 28, 2015, the Instituto Moreira Salles in Rio de Janeiro showcased 'American Color,' a retrospective of William Eggleston. Curated by Thyago Nogueira, the exhibition included 172 photographs spanning Eggleston's initial three decades, featuring the entire Los Alamos series. The display took place across five galleries within the Modernist home of the Moreira Salles family, which was designed using colors inspired by Eggleston's art. Notable pieces included early black-and-white photographs, the 1980 portfolio Troubled Waters, and large-format portraits from the 1970s, accompanied by the film Stranded in Canton (1973/2008). This marked Eggleston's first retrospective in Brazil and his largest in the Americas since 2009, coinciding with conversations about racial tensions in the U.S., including the Charleston shooting.