Eadweard Muybridge, Fencing, 1887
May 13, 2019
Eadweard Muybridge, under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania, published in 1887 his ground breaking series ANIMAL LOCOMOTION: AN ELECTRO-PHOTOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF CONSECUTIVE PHASES OF ANIMAL MOVEMENTS.
Possibly the most elegant image of the 781 views published as collotypes was this frieze-like composite of two men fencing. Below the image can be found the official stamp of the PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM AND SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ART, whose collection this print was once part of.
PMSIA eventually evolved into the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and separately, in 1964, into The Philadelphia College of Art (PCA). Might it be a coincidence that in that same year, Ray Metzker, while teaching at PCA, began his highly regarded series "Composites," many of which share the rhythm of the fencers....? And that for decades Ray had a Muybridge hanging on his studio wall?
Just asking...
