The Art Institute of Chicago presents The Three Graces an exhibition on view October 29, 2011–January 22, 2012.
Beyond their individual capacity to preserve and evoke memories, snapshots of celebrations, vacations, and gatherings of family and friends are accumulated with the aim of constructing a personal identity and preserving it for future generations. When these same photographs are discarded or displaced—becoming merely anonymous—they are transformed into cultural artifacts that collectively reveal a great deal about the evolving ritual of self-presentation in front of the camera. The Three Graces presents approximately 500 such snapshots found and collected by Peter J. Cohen, who named this group featuring trios of women after the iconic Greco-Roman motif. These photographs are presented opposite an 18th-century print bearing the same title from the Art Institute’s prints and drawings collection.
October 29, 2011–January 22, 2012
Galleries 3–4
Overview: Beyond their individual capacity to preserve and evoke memories, snapshots of celebrations, vacations, and gatherings of family and friends are accumulated with the aim of constructing a personal identity and preserving it for future generations. When these same photographs are discarded or displaced—becoming merely anonymous—they are transformed into cultural artifacts that collectively reveal a great deal about the evolving ritual of self-presentation in front of the camera. The Three Graces presents approximately 500 such snapshots found and collected by Peter J. Cohen, who named this group featuring trios of women after the iconic Greco-Roman motif. These photographs are presented opposite an 18th-century print bearing the same title from the Art Institute’s prints and drawings collection.
Unknown photographer, c. 1930s.
In traditional Western iconography, the Three Graces personify beauty, charm, and grace in both nature and humanity. The consistency of confidence and poise projected by these trios of women prompts a game of compare-and-contrast to reveal the formal and behavioral conventions influenced by popular notions of beauty and style. Dating from the 1910s to the 1960s, and largely of American origin, these photographs span the decades during which photography skyrocketed in popularity among amateurs and the handheld film camera saw significant technical advances. At the same time, the snapshot was called upon to not only capture what people looked like, but also to tell the story of how they lived their lives in the modern era. As a group, these snapshots attest to the impact of popular photographic images on individual self-representation and the tremendous influence that wielding a camera had on the way in which women saw themselves. To this end, the iconography of The Three Graces becomes a framework through which to understand the generational differences and cultural influences that shaped women’s self-presentation in front of the camera in the first half of the 20th century. www.artic.edu
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