Artist
Herbert Bayer American, born Austria, 1900–1985
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Muscles
Date1934
Made inUnited States
MediumGelatin silver print with applied color and collage
DimensionsImage: 10 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (26.7 × 29.2 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (26.7 × 29.2 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (26.7 × 29.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Louisa Stude Sarofim
Object number86.496
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Bayer was a prominent member of the Bauhaus, Germany’s avant-garde school of
modern design, before leaving in 1928 to become art director for the German
edition of Vogue magazine. In 1934,
Bayer traveled to Greece, where he developed a strong affinity for classical
Greek art. Muscles, created that same
year, portrays idealized, classical male bodies that epitomize the utopian
aesthetic championed by the Nazis.
Provenance[Kicken-Pauseback Gallery, Cologne, Germany]; purchased by MFAH, 1986.
Exhibition HistoryExhibited Photographic Masterworks: Recent Acquisitions from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Glassell School January 23 - March 4, 1990
"Utopia/ Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 11 March - 10 June, 2012.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
lower right on the image in pencil: herbert bayer 34
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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William Wegman
1970
Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony CV 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound
2019.402.3