Artist
Dora Maar (French, 1907–1997)French, 1907–1997
CultureFrench
Titles
- Untitled
Date1935–1936
PlaceFrance
MediumGelatin silver print collage with applied color
DimensionsImage (Irregular): 15 11/16 × 11 11/16 in. (39.9 × 29.7 cm)
Sheet (Irregular): 15 11/16 × 11 11/16 in. (39.9 × 29.7 cm)
Mount: 15 3/4 × 11 3/4 in. (40 × 29.8 cm)
Frame: 22 11/16 × 18 11/16 × 1 1/8 in. (57.6 × 47.5 × 2.9 cm)
Sheet (Irregular): 15 11/16 × 11 11/16 in. (39.9 × 29.7 cm)
Mount: 15 3/4 × 11 3/4 in. (40 × 29.8 cm)
Frame: 22 11/16 × 18 11/16 × 1 1/8 in. (57.6 × 47.5 × 2.9 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number97.83
Non exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
this Surrealist image, Dora Maar unites a Romanesque cloister from Mont St.
Michel (on the Normandy coast of France) and the figure of a dead woman,
identified as a corpse by the crucifix on her chest and the cap on her head,
used for tying closed the mouths of the dead. At the end of the cloister, Maar
added a stormy sky, transforming the arched passageway into a tunnel of death.
ProvenanceThe artist; Georges Bataille, 1936, d. 1962; Sylvie Bataille; purchased by The Collection Marvi, Monaco, August 1990; [purchased by Jill Quasha Gallery, New York, 1996]; purchased by MFAH, 1997.
Exhibition History"Modernism in a Century of Change: Cubism and the Heroic Years of Abstraction," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 1997–January 1998.
"Dora Maar - Pablo Picasso: A Dangerous Liaison," Haus der Kunst, Munich, October 12, 2001–January 13, 2002; Centre de la Vielle Charité, Marseille, France, February 7–April 30, 2002.
"Utopia/ Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 11–June 10, 2012.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
The photograph is not signed or dated.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Dora Maar
c. 1950
Ink on paper
2012.467
Dora Maar
c. 1950
Ink and chalk on paper
2012.566