Circular Vestible Masks
Original Language TitleMasques du vestibule circulaire
Series TitleLe Nouvel Opéra de Paris, Sculpture Ornementale
Series TitleThe New Paris Opera, ornamental sculpture
Artist
Louis-Émile Durandelle
(French, 1839 - 1917)
Dateca. 1875
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 8 5/16 × 10 15/16 inches (21.11 × 27.78 cm)
Mount: 17 1/2 × 24 3/4 inches (44.45 × 62.87 cm)
Mount: 17 1/2 × 24 3/4 inches (44.45 × 62.87 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2016.75.65
SignedArtist attribution on mount recto, bottom, in black ink: “DUCHER et Cie , Editeurs. / Durandelle, Photographe.”
InscribedInscribed on mount recto, bottom, in black ink: “LE NOUVEL OPÉRA DE PARIS / SCULPTURE ORNEMENTALE”.
MarkingsOn image recto, in negative, upper left corner: “No 35”;
On mount recto, top, in black ink: “35”;
On mount verso, upper right corner, in pencil: “15182”;
On mount verso, lower right corner, in pencil: “c”.
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of two rows of sculptural heads mounted on wooden planks; on the top row there are two bearded men with decorative headdresses – the one on the right has a star on top; there are three heads below with elaborate headdresses. The headdress on the left is tied under chin and composed of two fish meeting at the top of the head; the center headdress depicts a bull with horns, and the right headdress show a nude figure (centaur man with animal legs) with right arm raised surrounded by grapes and foliage.Gallery LabelArranged in rows and mounted onto wooden beams, five stone faces stare out from Louis-Émile Durandelle’s photograph. These sculptures were later installed on the ceiling of the spectacularly adorned Parisian Opéra Garnier. Durandelle documented the opera house’s construction for 10 years in collaboration with its architect, Charles Garnier, and often photographed its ornate sculptures that featured mythological and allegorical characters, like those in this image. Such themes were popular in the arts at this time and could be found in photographs, paintings, prints, and architecture.
Purchased from Vintage Works, Ltd., Chalfont, PA by The Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2016;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2016.
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2016.
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