The Game of the Doll (Les Jeux de la Poupée)
Artist
Hans Bellmer
(German, 1902-1975)
CultureGerman
Date1949
MediumHand-colored silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 5 7/8 × 5 1/2 in. (14.9 × 14 cm)
Overall, Support: 9 9/16 × 7 7/16 in. (24.3 × 18.9 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 1/16 × 16 1/16 in. (51 × 40.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 9 9/16 × 7 7/16 in. (24.3 × 18.9 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 1/16 × 16 1/16 in. (51 × 40.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number80.238
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a hand-colored silver print photograph.Label TextHans Bellmer German (1902-1975) The Game of the Doll (Les Jeux de la Poupée), 1949 Hand-colored silver print, 5 7/8 x 5 1/2 in. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Museum purchase 80.238 Trained as a technical artist and graphic designer, Hans Bellmer merged the detail-orientation of these disciplines with a fantasy realm derived from childhood escapism and the darkly expressionist art and theater of early 1930s Europe. In 1933, he began to create and photograph a bizarre series of dolls, entitled "poupée," which eventually formed the core of his work. Upon settling in Paris in 1938, Bellmer was affiliated with the Surrealist movement, and his images were often used as illustrations in Surrealist publications. Bellmer used doll imagery as a theme in both his sculpture and photography. Through his creative dismembering, bending, and incongruously rearranging of the dolls, Bellmer three-dimensionally depicted recurrent themes in his drawings. By reordering the female form, he created a seemingly viable new entity according to his personal desires. Utilizing the realism of photography places Bellmer's work into a more believable context. His incorporating of nonsensical characters into a naturalistic environment makes his imagery seems plausible to the viewer. Bellmer's obsession with sex and with the female form in particular, found an outlet in the form of controlled genius. His works, executed with impeccable craftsmanship and brilliant concepts, never become licentious - they are the works of a consummate artist. Exhibition History"A History of Photography: 15 Years at the Chrysler Museum," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA; September 11, 1993-March 6, 1994. "Photographs from the Chrysler Museum," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, February 26-April 23, 1989 "Venus and Adonis: Aspects of the Figurative Ideal in 19th- and 20th-Century Art," The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, July 13 - November 3, 1996 "Silver Images: The Photography Collection at 25," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., November 5, 2003 - August 2004. "Remix: A Fresh Look At Our Modern And Contemporary Art Collections," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, November 2, 2011 - March 17, 2012. "Making and Meaning: Selections from the Chrysler Museum of Art Collection," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, June 1 - August 11, 2013.Published ReferencesBrooks Johnson, _Photography Speaks: 66 Photographers on Their Art_ (Norfolk, Va.: Aperature/The Chrysler Museum, 1989), 54-55.
