Vortograph
Artist
Alvin Langdon Coburn
(English, born America, 1882 - 1966)
Date1917
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 10 7/8 x 8 inches (27.62 x 20.32 cm)
Framed: 25 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches (65.41 x 50.17 cm)
Framed: 25 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches (65.41 x 50.17 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.3920
InscribedSignature
Signed in artist's hand
On Mount
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionVintage gelatin silver print on original exhibition mount. See data in Christie's catalog.Gallery LabelCoburn was pioneer in the exploration of photographic abstraction. After working in New York City, Coburn moved to London. In 1916-1917, inspired by the British art movement of Vorticism (which sought to express the forces of modernity in an art of abstract, crystalline forms), Coburn altered the vision of his camera by placing an arrangement of small mirrors over the lens. The result was the first artistic body of wholly synthetic photographs. These bold and mysterious images baffled the critics of the day, but anticipated the experimental concerns of the 1920s and 1930s.
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