Poet's Narcissus
Artist
Bertha E. Jaques
(American, 1863 - 1941)
Date1907
MediumCyanotype photogram
DimensionsImage and sheet: 10 13/16 × 4 9/16 inches (27.46 × 11.59 cm)
Mount: 15 3/8 × 8 1/8 inches (39.05 × 20.64 cm)
Mount: 15 3/8 × 8 1/8 inches (39.05 × 20.64 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.2723
Signednone
InscribedOriginal paper label, adhered to back of mount verso, written in black pen: "Amaryllis Family - / 1907 - June - Chicago" / Poet's Narcissus [underlined]"
MarkingsOn mount verso, lower left corner, in pencil: "Poets Narcissus / C-17"
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionBlue-hued negative image of two flowers blooming from a single divided stem.Exhibition HistoryRotation 25. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 19, 2018- March 17, 2019, no cat.
Bertha Jaques created this camera-less composition by placing daffodils onto lightsensitized cyanotype paper. After exposure and development, the blooms appear as wispy traces, while the stems remain the color of the white, unexposed paper. This delicate interplay between light and shadow make a simple, elegant composition. Jaques was an artist and printmaker as well as a poet. During her 46-year career, she created 461 prints and more than 1,000 cyanotype photographs.
Charles Isaacs, New York, NY;
Purchased from Charles Isaacs by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 2001;
Given by Hallmark Cards Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.
Purchased from Charles Isaacs by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 2001;
Given by Hallmark Cards Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.
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