The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 15, 2024

The Hamadryads

The Hamadryads

c. 1910
(American, 1869–1950)
America, 20th century
Gelatin silver print
Image: 24.1 x 19.7 cm (9 1/2 x 7 3/4 in.); Paper: 40.8 x 32.7 cm (16 1/16 x 12 7/8 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1995.77
Location: not on view

Description

During the first two decades of the 20th century, Anne Brigman was a leading practitioner of the pictorial photography style. She often used mythological themes rendered in soft focus, and manipulated her prints and negatives to remove her photographic subject matter from common, everyday reality. This print exemplifies Brigman's allegorical photography, in which nude figures were integrated into natural settings. In Greek mythology a Hamadryad is a nymph whose life begins and ends with that of a specific tree. Here, two nude females, representing "wood nymphs," were carefully placed among the flowing forms of an isolated tree in the Sierra Nevada mountains, a favorite location for much of Brigman's work.
  • Heyman, Therese Thau, and Anne Brigman. Anne Brigman: Pictorial Photographer, Pagan, Member of the Photo-Secession. [Oakland, California]: The Oakland Museum, Art Department, 1974. p. 13
    Ehrens, Susan, and Anne Brigman. A Poetic Vision: The Photographs of Anne Brigman. Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1995. p. 89
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 112
  • Shadows and Dreams: Pictorialist Photography in America. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 5, 2015-January 17, 2016).
    Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007); Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (October 3, 2009-January 3, 2010).
    Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
    A Poetic Vision: The Photographs of Anne Brigman. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA (September 2-October 5, 1995); The George Eastman House, Rochester, NY (March 23-June 9, 1996); Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, CA (August 10-October 6, 1996).
    Anne Brigman: Pictorial Photographer/Pagan/Member of the Photo-Session. The Oakland Museum (Oakes Gallery), Oakland, CA (September 17-November 17, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=The Hamadryads|url=false|author=Anne W. Brigman|year=c. 1910|access-date=15 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.77