The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 23, 2024
Untitled (Nude)
1851–1852
(French, 1855)
Image: 6.5 x 5.5 cm (2 9/16 x 2 3/16 in.); Overall: 8.4 x 16.8 cm (3 5/16 x 6 5/8 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1999.8
Location: not on view
Description
A master of commercial portrait photography, Gouin specialized in hand-painted stereoscopic daguerreotypes. Derived from the inventions of Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) in 1832 and Sir David Brewster (1781-1868) in 1849, the stereoscopic technique produced two almost identical photographic images. When seen simultaneously in a viewing instrument called a stereoscope, the resulting effect was an astonishing illusion of three-dimensional space. This rare example comes from an important group of nude studies Gouin created in the early 1850s. To create the image, Gouin carefully posed a favorite model--Delphine Herbé, a florist--in his third-floor studio where the bright, natural light would define her body. Drapery was used to relieve the monotony of the background and heighten the three-dimensionality of the model's form and echo its contours. Gouin's training as a painter of miniatures is evident in the delicacy of the hand-coloring and in the subtle, naturalistic application of pigment over the polished surface of the plate.- Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major Benin Bronze Plaque, Rembrandt Print, Other Works of Art Enter CMA Collection,” March 12, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
- 19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000).Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 5/27/00 - 8/9/00. "19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art."
- {{cite web|title=Untitled (Nude)|url=false|author=Alexis-Louis-Charles-Arthur Gouin|year=1851–1852|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.8