The mind and body in repose and sleep, released from the rigors and cares of the day, is free to wander, dream, and imagine both the joys and horrors of possibility. Images by Richard Avedon and George Hoyningen-Huene depart from traditional photographic portraiture. Hoyningen-Huene’s photo of an unnamed designer personalizes him to reflect and highlight the objects that surround him like satellites, while the typically coiffed and perfectly attired Marlene Dietrich is illustrated in a mysterious, dishabille state. The viewer is uncertain whether she has just arisen or has lit on the edge of the bed exhausted in this intimate portrait. Rouault’s evocative Tete de Pierrot (Head of a Clown) illustrates a familiar character derived from seventeenth century Italian pantomime introduced to France, and favored by Rouault as perhaps a self portrait, an innocent, solitary spirit imbued with artistic sensibility.
Elias M. Grossman | George Hoyningen-Huene | Georges Rouault | Richard Avedon
Elias M. Grossman
Sleeping Man, 1941
Drypoint
Gift of Shulamith Rones in memory of her parents, 2012.2.3
George Hoyningen-Huene
Portrait of a Man surrounded by Objects, Costume Designer, ca. 1920-40
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Matthew R. Bergey, 2015.8.15
Georges Rouault
Tete de Pierrot (Head of a Clown), 1938
From the Passion with poems written by Andre Suares; published by Vollard, Paris, in
1939
Color aquatint (reproduction)
Unknown donor, 2011.10.2
Richard Avedon
Marlene Dietrich in Bedroom, 1948
Published in “Harper’s Bazaar”, 1948
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Matthew R. Bergey, 2015.8.19
Images by Jacqui Hopely Monkell