Kelmscott Manor: In the Attics (No. 1).

Object Details

Title:

Kelmscott Manor: In the Attics (No. 1).

Artist/Maker:

Frederick H. Evans (British, 1853 - 1943)

Culture:

British

Date:

1896

Medium:

Platinum print

Object Number:

84.XM.444.89

Dimensions:

15.6 × 20.2 cm (6 1/8 × 7 15/16 in.)

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Frederick Evans's architectural study of the attic at Kelmscott Manor, a medieval house, part of which dates from 1280, is a visual geometry lesson. The composition is all angles and intersections, formed not only by the actual structure but also by the graphic definition of light within the space. Soft illumination bathes the area near the stairs, while the photograph's foreground plunges into murky darkness. The sharp angles of intersecting planes are mediated by the rough-hewn craftsmanship of the beams and posts, almost sensuous in their sinewy imperfection and plainly wrought by hand. The platinum print medium favored by Evans provides softened tonalities that further unify the triangles, squares, and diagonal lines of the dynamic composition.

Provenance
-1984

Samuel Wagstaff, Jr., American, 1921 - 1987, sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1984.

Exhibitions
Arrows of Time: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (January 24 to April 2, 1995)
  • Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center at UCLA (Los Angeles), January 24 to April 2, 1995
A Record of Emotion: The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans (February 2, 2010 to February 20, 2011)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), February 2 to June 6, 2010
In Focus: Architecture (October 15, 2013 to March 2, 2014)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), October 15, 2013 to March 2, 2014
The Thrill of the Chase: The Wagstaff Collection of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum (March 15, 2016 to May 7, 2017)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), March 15 to July 31, 2016
  • Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford), September 10 to December 11, 2016
  • Portland Museum of Art (Portland), February 13 to May 7, 2017
Bibliography

The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 7th ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007), p. 305, ill.