Self-portrait as a Zouave
Artist
Roger Fenton
(English, 1819 - 1869)
Date1855
MediumSalt print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 7 13/16 × 6 7/16 inches (19.84 × 16.35 cm)
Mount: 22 1/8 × 16 1/8 inches (56.2 × 40.96 cm)
Mount: 22 1/8 × 16 1/8 inches (56.2 × 40.96 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2008.18.13
SignedOn mount recto, bottom, printed in black type: "Photographed by R. Fenton Manchester. Published by T. Agnew & Sons, March 25th, 1856 / London P & D Colnaghi & Co. Paris Moulin, 23, Rue Richer. New York Williams & Co."
InscribedOn mount recto, bottom, printed in black type: "Zouave 2nd Division. / Despose"
MarkingsOn mount recto, bottom, blindstamp: "T AGNEW & SONS / Publishers / MANCHESTER";
On mount verso, upper right, in pencil: "M229";
On mount verso, bottom center, in pencil: "Fenton - Self Portrait RF2/1018", "23.0349".
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of man seated on a fur covered perch with a gun held at the ready. He holds a pipe between his teeth and there is a bottle with a silver cup nearby.Gallery LabelCocking a rifle and smoking a pipe, with alcohol by his side, Roger Fenton poses for his camera with bravado. Wearing the distinctive baggy uniform of a Zouave (skilled infantry soldiers from the French army in Algeria), Fenton fashions himself as a hardened, glowering soldier, though he never fought in any war. Fenton did, however, photograph the Crimean War (1853–1856) from a great distance. The war brought together an alliance of soldiers from England, Croatia, Algeria, Turkey, Egypt, and France whom Fenton encountered while photographing the conflict.
Purchased from Andrew Smith Gallery, Inc., Santa Fe, NM, by The Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2008;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2008.
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2008.
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