Charles Negre 1820-1880
11 1/16 x 8 4/16 ins
This unprecedented image is one of the most extraordinary early French photographs. Comparison with Nègre's self portraits, characterised by his exceptionally long fingers and a ring - strangely worn on his index finger - allows one to conclude that this is a conceptual "self portrait".
Sudre.
Provenance
Marie-Thérèse and André Jammes, ParisHenry Bulh, United States
Exhibitions
New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004.West Palm Beach, Norton Museum of Art, A Show of Hands: Photographs and Sculpture from the Buhl Collection, January - March 2008.
Seoul, South Korea, Daelim Contemporary Art Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Asian tour), March - May 2009.
Literature
Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 28 and 237 (this negative)A modern positive print made from this negative:
Françoise Heilbrun, Charles Negre (Berlin, 1988), p. 49