Artist
El LissitzkyRussian, 1890–1941
CultureRussian
Titles
- Dziga Vertov - Kino Auge
- Dziga Vertov-Kino Auge
Date1929
MediumGelatin silver print, photomontage
DimensionsImage: 4 5/16 × 5 5/16 in. (11 × 13.5 cm)
Sheet: 4 5/8 × 6 in. (11.8 × 15.2 cm)
Sheet: 4 5/8 × 6 in. (11.8 × 15.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2002.1549
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
create this photomontage, El Lissitzky mounted a portrait of pioneering
documentary film producer Dziga Vertov within a photograph of an eye taken in
1924 by Alexander Rodchenko. The work is a witty reference to Dziga Vertov’s
statement, “I am a mechanical eye. I, a machine, show you the world as only I
can see it.” Vertov believed his concept of Kino-Glaz,
or Cine-Eye in English, would help
contemporary man evolve from a flawed creature into a higher, more precise
form. “In the face of the machine we are ashamed of man’s inability to control
himself,” he wrote.
ProvenanceJen Lissitzky; Manfred Heiting; MFAH, 2002.
Exhibition History"Utopia/ Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 11–June 10, 2012.
"Soviet Photography," The Jewish Museum, New York, September 25, 2015–February 7, 2016; The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 11–July 4, 2016; Joods Historiche Museum, Amsterdam, July 27–November 27, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
verso top in ink words in Russian
There is no evident signature.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
