Francis Bruguière
[Cut-paper abstraction]

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • [Cut-paper abstraction]
Datec. 1927
PlaceUnited States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 7/16 × 7 7/16 in. (24 × 18.9 cm)
Sheet: 9 7/16 × 7 7/16 in. (24 × 18.9 cm)
Mount: 16 3/16 × 13 1/8 in. (41.1 × 33.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Louisa Stude Sarofim
Object number82.574
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description


In the 1920s, the creative conditions for photography were ripe with possibilities. Technical difficulties were alleviated by new hand-held cameras and more responsive negatives, and photographers no longer aimed to make photos that resembled paintings. Instead, in this “Machine Era,” many artists embraced the inherent characteristics of the medium. Bruguière’s cut-paper photographs evolved out of experiments using light to create abstract photographic forms. In this image, the cutout is photographed in strong, directional light, making its elaborate and graceful curves appear in the photograph as a complex intertwining of brightness and shadow.



Provenance[Robert Miller Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1982.
Exhibition HistoryThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Lower Brown Corridor, May 21 - August 8, 1997

"Proto-Modern Photography," Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, July 11–October 11, 1992; George Eastman International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York, December 4, 1992–March 1, 1993.

"Evocative Presence: Twentieth Century Photographs in the Museum Collection", The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston February 27– May 1, 1988.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[verso inaccessible]
Signed in pencil, recto, lower right below image: Francis Bruguiere

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Beethoven's Madness
Paul Francis Forsythe
1988
Gelatin silver print on tin
98.62
December 27, 1992
David Francis Donovan
1992
Gelatin silver print
93.86
Saturday, March 18, 1984
David Francis Donovan
1984, printed 1988
Gelatin silver print
93.85
At Pont y pair, Bettws-y-Coed, North Wales
Francis Bedford
June 1856
Albumen silver print
2023.168.5
The Mosque of Kaitbéy
Francis Frith
1858
Albumen silver print
2004.457
[Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amun]
Francis Bedford
1862
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2004.300
The Pyramids of Dahshoor, from the East
Francis Frith
1857
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2004.458
[Thebes - Interior of the Hall of Columns at the Temple of Karnaak, Looking South]
Francis Bedford
1862
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2004.301
Portion of the portico of the Temple of Esneh
Francis Bedford
1862
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2000.258
Gizeh - The Pyramids of Cheops and Chephren
Francis Bedford
1862
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2000.259
Nature Huts - Near Calcutta
Francis Frith & Co.
1876
Albumen silver print
88.212.1
High Court Building - Calcutta
Francis Frith & Co.
1876
Albumen silver print
88.212.2