Lot 59: O. G. REJLANDER, 1813-1875 TWO FIGURES DRAWING WATER FROM A WELL (O.G. REJLANDER AND MODEL), MID-

O. G. REJLANDER, 1813-1875 TWO FIGURES DRAWING WATER FROM A WELL (O.G. REJLANDER AND MODEL), MID- TO LATE 1850S

Albumenised Salt Print, mounted on modern paper,

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

For O.G. Rejlander see E.Y. Jones 1973, S. Spencer 1985, and the entry for the photographer in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: OUP 2004, by J. Hacking.
CATALOGUE NOTE

This is very rich print of a rare subject. As an albumenised salt print it is likely to be an early work from the mid-1850s.

O.G. Rejlander, the 'father of art photography', is well-known for including himself in his artistic figure studies taken from the mid-1850s through to the early 70s. Commissioned by Charles Darwin to supply illustrations for his On the Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) Rejlander posed for, among other emotions, 'indignation', 'disgust' and 'surprise'. Although Mary Rejlander frequently appears in her husband's photographs, the model seen here is not his wife.

Rejlander specialised in, among other genres of photography, so-called genre scenes, for which there is an implied narrative, the clue to which was usually provided by the title. As this study is untitled it is for us to guess at the photographer's intentions. The two figures wear costumes which reference both lower class and rural 'types'. Rejlander, never one to shy away from the risqué, has arranged the scene so that his eyeline is not directed toward the watering can but towards the model, who is presented as intent (in this context, modestly) on her task. The fact that the two sitters are arranged on either side of the well lends a phallic symbolism to the image.

The suggestion of sexual frisson adds piquancy to one of the most intriguing questions about the studies in which Rejlander appears: who was operating the camera?

201 by 164mm