The Pianist
Case (open): 7 1/2 × 4 11/16 × 3/8 inches (19.05 × 11.91 × 0.95 cm)
Case (closed): 3 3/4 × 4 5/8 × 5/8 inches (9.53 × 11.75 × 1.59 cm)
Developing
Greatness: the Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885. The Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 9 June-30 December 2007, no. 135.
Rotation 22. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO. August 10, 2016 – January 8, 2017.
Rendered with exquisite detail and artistic sensitivity, this occupational portrait exemplifies the technical mastery of daguerreotypy by the 1850s. Posing with some evidence of a sitter’s profession, skill, or talent, was common in this genre of daguerreian portraiture, which flourished during the 1840s and 1850s.
Noticeable in the man’s face is a rosy, pink flush. Finished plates were often hand-colored by stippling dry powdered pigment directly onto the surface. Most coloration was minimal: garish applications of pigment would have reflected poorly on both the sitter and the photographer.
Purchased from Stanley Yalkowsky's sale Photographs 6747, Sotheby’s, New York, October 5, 1995, Lot 35, by private collector, 1995;
Purchased from Photographs N07925, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, October 17, 2003, lot 50, by the Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2003;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Kansas City, MO, 2005.
