The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Triangle Composition (Harry Losee)

Triangle Composition (Harry Losee)

1922
(American, 1869–1961)
America, 20th century
gelatin silver print
Image: 24 x 19 cm (9 7/16 x 7 1/2 in.); Paper: 25 x 20.2 cm (9 13/16 x 7 15/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1996.358
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Jane Reece, who lived and worked in Dayton, Ohio, exhibited her photography in salons and exhibitions around the world.

Description

In 1922 Jane Reece produced a handful of portraits of modern dancer Henry Losee (1901–1952) that blazed new trails both by producing a photogram (cameraless photography) and by incorporating it into a traditional photograph. The background here never existed in three dimensions; it was created by placing tissue or celluloid overlays on photosensitive paper. Each photogram is unique, so the background varies slightly in each print. Whether Reese was inspired by Cubist painting, the Vorticist photographs of Alvin Langdon Coburn, or the stage sets and lighting of avant-garde dance companies, the result is a daring experiment that moved Pictorialism toward modernism.
  • Dayton Art Institute, Ohio
  • Reece, Jane, and Dominique H. Vasseur. The Soul Unbound: The Photographs of Jane Reece. Dayton, OH: Dayton Art Institute, 1997. cat. no. 34
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 308
  • Shadows and Dreams: Pictorialist Photography in America. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 5, 2015-January 17, 2016).
    The Soul Unbound: The Photographs of Jane Reece. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH (September 20-November 30, 1997).
  • {{cite web|title=Triangle Composition (Harry Losee)|url=false|author=Jane Reece|year=1922|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1996.358