Head of a Man on a Rod (Tete sur Tige)

Artist Herbert Matter (American, born Switzerland. Born April 25, 1907, Engelberg, Swit, 1907 - 1984)

DateNegative 1960-78; print 1978

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsSupport: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Mat: 19 3/4 × 23 3/4 in. (50.2 × 60.3 cm)

ClassificationsPhotograph

Credit LineGift in Honor of Norman S. Ives, Professor, Artist, Publisher and Friend of Herbert Matter, 2021

Object number2022.9.3

DescriptionHorizontal composition showing image of sculpture of a human head in three-quarter view at center, filling sheet from top to bottom. Face is represented abstractly with a pocked and uneven surface. Photographic emphasis on contrast between light and dark tones heightens contrast.
eMuseum Notes

Emuseum Notes

In his series of photographs of the sculptures of Alberto Giacometti, Herbert Matter concentrated his attention on the artist’s post-World War II work, a time when he had achieved international recognition and was developing his mature style. In 1947, Giacometti created several sculptures of disembodied human heads and limbs. The distressed surface, socket eyes, and open mouth of this human face perhaps convey some of the anguish of the experience of war. Though the piece was ultimately cast in bronze, Matter photographs it in it original plaster state and fills the page with the head, confronting us with its cry of pain.

On View

Not on view

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