The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

The Hold-Up

The Hold-Up

1880s
Overall: 21.6 x 16.5 cm (8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

Since the beginning of photography, objects and people have been purposefully arranged, or staged, for the camera. Popular in the late 1860s and 1870s, tintypes offered low prices and shortened exposure times. Perhaps because tintypists commonly worked at fairs and carnivals, frivolous images, such as this staged hold-up, became common. In these fictional scenes, all the participants were in on the joke. Some such scenes may be novelties, others may be gag portraits commissioned by groups of friends.
  • Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro, New York, NY
    December 1, 2003
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=The Hold-Up|url=false|author=|year=1880s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.299