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Self-portrait, Hand

Artist John Coplans (American, born England, 1920 - 2003)
Date1987
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall: 39 1/4 × 36 1/4 inches (99.7 × 92.08 cm)
Framed: 45 1/2 × 42 inches (115.57 × 106.68 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.4972
InscribedSignature Signed in artist's hand Back of Print
Edition/State/Proofedition 3/12
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionImage of man's hand (closeup); fingers spread. Signature on back of print.Exhibition History
Rotation 22. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, August 10, 2016- January 8, 2017, no cat.
Gallery Label
John Coplans’s large-scale black-and-white self-portraits focus razor-sharp scrutiny on specific parts of his body. This photograph transforms Coplans’s hand into a mammoth anthropomorphic form that is at once detailed and abstract. Printed larger than life, and excluding his head and face, these photographs become depersonalized, encouraging viewers to make their own visual associations.
Provenance
Galerie LeLong, New York, NY;
Purchased from Galerie LeLong by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1991;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.
Copyright© John Coplans
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