Joaquim Paiva
Back of My Parents' Portrait

Back of My Parents' Portrait

© Joaquim Paiva

Back of My Parents' Portrait
Back of My Parents' Portrait
ArtistBrazilian, born 1946
CultureBrazilian
Titles
  • Back of My Parents' Portrait
  • from the series Family Portraits
Date2001
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 15 3/4 × 15 3/4 in. (40 × 40 cm)
Sheet: 17 3/8 × 17 3/8 in. (44.1 × 44.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist
Object number2002.148
Non exposé

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Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

Joaquim Paiva’s passion for photography derives from his early experiences with family photographs. At four years old, he recalls how his mother would show him photographs of his recently deceased father, making his understandings of the relationship between memory and photography inherent in his most formative moments. “Photography as memory, as self-portrait as a souvenir, as one’s experiences in life—like the people you’ve met, places where you lived, feelings you tried to express in images—are an integral part of my relationship to photography,” says Paiva.

In his series Family Portraits, Paiva re-photographed family photographs of his parents as newlyweds to create a powerful tribute to the memory of his loved ones and a reflection of his own identity. The red dirt that frames each photograph is reminiscent of the dirt of Brasília, where Paiva lived for much of his life. The words are a dedication from his youthful parents to Paiva’s grandparents, written on the back of their portrait.



ProvenanceThe artist, Rio de Janeiro; given to MFAH, 2002.
Exhibition History"Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made after 1960 from the MFAH Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Foundation Galleries, February 21 - May 9, 2010.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in pencil on verso lower center: "Joaquim Paiva, Family Portraits, 2001"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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My Parents
Joaquim Paiva
2001
Chromogenic print
2002.147
My Father
Joaquim Paiva
2001
Chromogenic print
2002.145
My Mother
Joaquim Paiva
2001
Chromogenic print
2002.146
My Parents in Bed
Larry Sultan
1988
Chromogenic print
92.34
Backyard of My Parents' Home - 2201 Wenonah, Wichita Falls, Texas
Frank W. Gohlke
1984
Gelatin silver print
85.268
Sem título
Joaquim Tenreiro
late 1950s
Oil on canvas
2005.1032
Joey Brandon with his parents, Zena and Everett Cloyd, Boston, Mass.
Nicholas Nixon
October 1987
Gelatin silver print
2010.195.15
Backyard of Parents' House
Jun Itoi
July 2001, printed May 2002
Internal dye diffusion print, waxed
2003.115
Die Eltern (The Parents), Number III
Käthe Kollwitz
1922–1923
Woodcut on Japanese paper, trial proof of second version of state III/VII
2003.983
Parents II
Chaim Goldberg
1973
Engraving, state VIII/VIII
84.291
Die Eltem (The Parents)
Käthe Kollwitz
1921–1922
Woodcut on wove paper, version c/d, state V/V, edition 89/100
2023.453