작품 상세

Ruth Bernhard (American, 1905-2006), "Perspective II", mounted silver gelatin print, 1967, Bernhard's signature in pencil on mount recto, 8-1/4" x 13-1/2". Glazed, matted and framed. Provenance: Private collection, Seattle, Washington. Literature: Ruth Bernhard, The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes , first published by Photography West Graphics, Carmel, California, 1986. Bernhard was born in Berlin and studied at the Art Academy there before moving to New York City where she began to work in photography. A serendipitous meeting with photographer Edward Weston resulted in Bernhard eventually moving to California to study with him. An acclaimed photographer of black and white female nudes, Bernhard's work incorporates a dramatic interplay of light and shadow which reveals the innate form of the subject. As the artist herself has stated: "If I have chosen the female form in particular, it is because beauty has been debased and exploited in our sensual 20th century. Woman has been the subject of much that is sordid and cheap, especially in photography. To raise, to elevate, to endorse with timeless reverence the image of woman has been my mission." Reference: New York Times obituary, December 21, 2006 .