Artist
Martin d’Orgeval(French, born 1973)French, born 1973
CultureFrench
Titles
- Témoin (Matilde #1)
Date2021
MediumDaguerreotype
DimensionsOverall: 8 7/16 × 6 1/2 × 9/16 in. (21.5 × 16.5 × 1.5 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the S. I. and Susie Morris Photography Endowment
Object number2021.378
Non exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Martin d’Orgeval has taken the oft-repeated idea that photography is to the real world as a fingerprint is to a finger and made it visible in a simple but mind-twisting way. He chose the daguerreotype process for its evocation of photography’s origins, mirrorlike reflectiveness, entrancing illusion of three dimensions, and delicate surface. An actual fingerprint on the surface of the plate heightens the illusion of a hand hovering just behind it and prompts one to ask: Is the hand real, and the fingerprint merely its trace, or is the fingerprint real, and the photographic image a mere ghost?
ProvenanceThe artist; [Galerie Hussenot, Paris]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.
Exhibition History"Fantômes et Témoins, Martin D’Orgeval," Galerie Hussenot, Paris, April 30–June 12, 2021.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Etched into plate verso, top center: Témoin (Matilde #1) // 2021 // Martin d’Orgeval [signed]
Printed in black on applied label, plate verso, bottom center: Martin d’Orgeval // // Témoin (Matilde #1) // // 2021 // Daguerréotype (copper, silver iodine, bromine, mercury, gold) ; // acryl, borosilicate glass, aluminium // 21,5 x 16,5 cm (8.5 x 6.5 in) // Unique // Martin d’Orgeval [signed in black ink]
Printed in black on vellum sheet inside portfolio case: Martin d’Orgeval // // Témoin (Matilde #1) // // 2021 // Daguerréotype (cuivre, argent, iode, brome, mercure, or) ; // acrylique, verre borosilicate, aluminium // 21,5 x 16,5 cm (8.5 x 6.5 in) // Unique
Printed in black on applied label, plate verso, bottom center: Martin d’Orgeval // // Témoin (Matilde #1) // // 2021 // Daguerréotype (copper, silver iodine, bromine, mercury, gold) ; // acryl, borosilicate glass, aluminium // 21,5 x 16,5 cm (8.5 x 6.5 in) // Unique // Martin d’Orgeval [signed in black ink]
Printed in black on vellum sheet inside portfolio case: Martin d’Orgeval // // Témoin (Matilde #1) // // 2021 // Daguerréotype (cuivre, argent, iode, brome, mercure, or) ; // acrylique, verre borosilicate, aluminium // 21,5 x 16,5 cm (8.5 x 6.5 in) // Unique
Signed on plate verso, etched, top center: Martin d’Orgeval
Signed in black ink on applied label, plate verso, bottom center: Martin d’Orgeval
Signed in black ink on applied label, plate verso, bottom center: Martin d’Orgeval
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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