Photograph or Moving Image by ForeignPhotographer/Artist
Inventory Number
93-PHF-010
This is one of the most confronting of Hans Bellmer’s photographs of dolls. A doll with two sets of legs lies on a bed with the bedclothes flung off. The legs at the back are together, with schoolgirl socks and shoes, while disheveled underwear covers the crotch. The front legs are spread wide open, with open-fronted men’s pants, socks and women’s shoes. It is hard to know if the doll is a man, woman, or both. The table in the left foreground is in the shadows, so we can’t see what’s on it. The doll’s rear right leg, and the left leg of the table and trousers are cut off at the edges of the photograph, as if they are protruding into the real world. With a strong light source at the back left, the image makes the viewer feel as if he or she is present in the scene.
(NAKAMURA Naoaki)
This is one of the most confronting of Hans Bellmer’s photographs of dolls. A doll with two sets of legs lies on a bed with the bedclothes flung off. The legs at the back are together, with schoolgirl socks and shoes, while disheveled underwear covers the crotch. The front legs are spread wide open, with open-fronted men’s pants, socks and women’s shoes. It is hard to know if the doll is a man, woman, or both. The table in the left foreground is in the shadows, so we can’t see what’s on it. The doll’s rear right leg, and the left leg of the table and trousers are cut off at the edges of the photograph, as if they are protruding into the real world. With a strong light source at the back left, the image makes the viewer feel as if he or she is present in the scene.
(NAKAMURA Naoaki)