Music stands, theatre des Champs-Elysees
Photograph
1933 (photographed), 1980s (printed)
1933 (photographed), 1980s (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Ilse Bing (1899-1998) was one of several leading women photographers in the inter-war period. Born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, she initially pursued an academic career before moving to Paris in 1930 to concentrate on photography.
Bing liked to remove objects from their context, focusing on the abstract, expressive qualities that materialised in her photographs. The Surrealists called this effect ‘dépaysement’ (removal from the natural sphere). ‘Things that are related and everyday are also related to something beyond, something you cannot catch’, Bing once said. Here the music stands, photographed before the performance of Balanchine's Errante, appear as dancing shapes, floating in the darkness of the theatre. The year she made this photograph, Bing met her husband, the concert pianist Konrad Wolff. He lived downstairs from her flat at 8, rue de Varenne, and his music drifted through the building.
Bing liked to remove objects from their context, focusing on the abstract, expressive qualities that materialised in her photographs. The Surrealists called this effect ‘dépaysement’ (removal from the natural sphere). ‘Things that are related and everyday are also related to something beyond, something you cannot catch’, Bing once said. Here the music stands, photographed before the performance of Balanchine's Errante, appear as dancing shapes, floating in the darkness of the theatre. The year she made this photograph, Bing met her husband, the concert pianist Konrad Wolff. He lived downstairs from her flat at 8, rue de Varenne, and his music drifted through the building.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Music stands, theatre des Champs-Elysees (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Gelatin-silver print |
| Brief description | Music stands, theatre des Champs-Elysees, photograph by Ilse Bing, 1933, gelatin-silver print, printed later |
| Physical description | A black and white, semi-abstract photograph of sheets of music floating in the dark. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Ilse Bing Wolff |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Ilse Bing (1899-1998) was one of several leading women photographers in the inter-war period. Born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, she initially pursued an academic career before moving to Paris in 1930 to concentrate on photography. Bing liked to remove objects from their context, focusing on the abstract, expressive qualities that materialised in her photographs. The Surrealists called this effect ‘dépaysement’ (removal from the natural sphere). ‘Things that are related and everyday are also related to something beyond, something you cannot catch’, Bing once said. Here the music stands, photographed before the performance of Balanchine's Errante, appear as dancing shapes, floating in the darkness of the theatre. The year she made this photograph, Bing met her husband, the concert pianist Konrad Wolff. He lived downstairs from her flat at 8, rue de Varenne, and his music drifted through the building. |
| Bibliographic reference | Ilse Bing: Three decades of photographyNancy C. Barrett (New Orleans Museum of Art, 1985) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.3060-2004 |
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| Record created | October 24, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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