About this artwork
This photograph previously belonged to André Breton, the leader of the surrealist group, who was a great admirer of Bellmer's work. It shows Bellmer's second doll, made in 1935. Bellmer made several dolls, the first one in 1933, all of which had moveable parts that could be put together in many strange and disquieting combinations. Bellmer's photographs of his doll are carefully staged in both interior and exterior settings. They show how photography could further explore the eroticism of the doll and the obsessive desire that led to its creation.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Hans Bellmer (1902 - 1975) German
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title:La Poupée [The Doll]
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date created:1933 - 1935
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materials:Gelatin silver print
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measurements:27.70 x 25.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased with the assistance of the Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland 2003
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accession number:GMA 4681
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gallery:
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subject:
Hans Bellmer
Hans Bellmer
German-French artist Hans Bellmer studied engineering in Berlin from 1922 to 1924, but gave up to work as a typographer and bookbinder. In 1933 he made his first doll, an articulated figure of a young girl, based on his fifteen-year-old cousin Ursula and on memories of his adolescent sexual...