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Self-Portrait

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

1921/22

Artist:

Georg Muche
German, 1895–1987

About this artwork

Trained as a painter, Georg Muche joined the Bauhaus in 1920. With Johannes Itten, he first taught the preliminary course, which focused on the inherent properties of different materials and their interplay, then directed his own classes in sculpture and weaving. Muche took up photography in 1921–22, employing the camera to explore form and texture. The spherical images in metal balls (Kugeln), objects common in German households as well as the residences and studios at the Bauhaus, inspired experiments in reflection and distortion there for years. (A wave of interest in photography, for teachers and students alike, began in the mid-1920s, but an official course in the subject was not offered until 1929.) Here we see the artist at his desk, with a Bauhaus brochure in the foreground and other elements of his work—a glass ball, an architectural model, his camera, and a painting—surrounding him.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Georg Muche

Title

Self-Portrait

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1921–1922

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/paper: 15.9 × 12 cm (6 5/16 × 4 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund

Reference Number

1987.385

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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