Mole & Thomas, “Human Statue of Liberty,” Chicago, 1915–1920, vintage gelatin silver print, 14 by 10½ inches.

MUST RUN 4-20

PEOPLE PICTURES BY MOLE & THOMAS AT RICCO/MARESCA w/1 cut requested 

ak/lsb set 4/13 #696075

NEW YORK CITY — The Ricco/Maresca Gallery is presenting an important collection of 65 vintage photographs by Arthur Mole and John Thomas at the gallery through May 19. “People Pictures: The Art of Conceptual Photograph 1915–1920,” offers a rare look at the historic images shot in the early 1900s.

Arthur S. Mole was a British-born commercial photographer who worked in Zion, Ill. During and shortly after World War I, Mole and his partner John D. Thomas traveled from one military camp to another, posing thousands of soldiers to form gigantic patriotic symbols that they photographed from above.

The formations depicted such images as the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the Marine Corps emblem and a portrait of President Woodrow Wilson. The Wilson portrait, for example, was formed using 21,000 officers and men at Camp Sherman in Ohio and stretched more than 700 feet. His “Human Liberty Bell” was composed from more than 25,000 soldiers, arranged with Mole’s characteristic attention to detail to even depict the crack in the bell.

Mole and Thomas spent a week or more preparing for these immense works, which were taken from a 70- or 80-foot tower with an 11-by-14-inch view camera. When the demand for these photographs dropped in the 1920s, Mole returned to his photography business in Zion.

Photographs by Mole and Thomas are in the collections of the Chicago Historical Society, the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of  Congress.

The Ricco/Maresca Gallery is at 529 West 20th Street. For information, 212-627-4819 or www.riccomaresca.com.