Bill Brandt
William Empson

William Empson

© Bill Brandt / Bill Brandt Archive Ltd.

William Empson
William Empson
ArtistBritish, born Germany, 1904–1983
CultureBritish
Titles
  • William Empson
Date1940, printed later
PlaceEngland
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 × 7 3/4 in. (22.9 × 19.7 cm)
Sheet: 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Jeffrey Hugh Newman
Object number2005.257
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

Brant photographed celebrities throughout his career, often on assignment for publications like Picture Post, Lilliput, and Harpar’s Bazaar. The majority of his subjects were artists, writers, critics, and other intellectual and cultural figures whom he admired. His early portraits often placed the figure off-center and alongside another object or compositional element that competed for visual dominance, such as the portrait-within-portrait of the critic and poet William Empson.

Brandt employed a wide variety of finishing techniques on his prints, often moving beyond simple retouching to enhance specific areas of the image, augmenting detail by adding graphite, ink, or washes, or strengthening line through scoring or scratching the surface of the print. This photograph, however, includes a rather unusual addition: Brandt has penciled in the absent body in the portrait on the wall behind Empson.


ProvenanceJeffrey Hugh Newman, West Orange, New Jersey; given to MFAH, 2005.
Exhibition History"Photographs by Bill Brandt: A Sense of Wonder," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Cameron Gallery, February 2-April 27, 2008.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in ink, center below image: "William Empson / 1940"

Marked in pencil on verso sheet, bottom edge: "E94", "0755", and center: "6c x 195" and in ink, lower right: "68"
Stamped in ink on verso sheet, lower center: "BILL BRANDT"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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

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