Homme qui marche (the Walking man), Chronophotographie, c. 1890-1895
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EUR 30,000 - EUR 50,000
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ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY (1830-1904)
Homme qui marche (the Walking man), Chronophotographie, c. 1890-1895
Ces dix-sept tirages d’un marcheur nu s’inscrivent dans l’ensemble d’un film chronophotographique d’Etienne-Jules Marey, aussi appelé « chronophotographie sur bande mobile ». Sur une longue pellicule, à des intervalles temporels très courts, Marey saisit en rafale des instantanés. Invention extrêmement novatrice, ces tirages sont destinés à l’analyse scientifique du mouvement ; en l’espèce à l’exploration de la locomotion humaine. C’est pour cette raison que ces tirages sont particulièrement rares. Michel Frizot précise à leurs propos « Chaque tirage est un agrandissement d’un photogramme d’un film chronophotographique de Marey […] Les agrandissements ne sont pas systématiques pour tous les films, mais seulement pour certains d’entre eux permettant une analyse fine du mouvement ». D’autre part, la rareté est accentuée par la présence de lignes inscrites à la mine de plomb sur les tirages reprenant les axes du corps humain. Ces géométries retranscrites sur un même calque permettaient de comprendre de la manière la plus abstraite la démarche de l’Homme. En 1898, un livre de Félix Regnault préfacé par Marey aurait pu donner son titre à cet ensemble :Comment on marche.
These seventeen prints of a nude walker are part of a chronophotographic film – also known as “chronophotography on a mobile roll of sensitized paper” – by Etienne-Jules Marey. On a long roll of film, at very short intervals of time, Marey took a series of rapid exposures. The prints obtained from this highly innovative invention were intended for the scientific analysis of movement, in this case for the exploration of human locomotion. For this reason, the prints are particularly rare. Michel Frizot says of them, “Each print is an enlargement of a photogram from one of Marey's chronophotographic films [...] the enlargements were not made systematically for all the films, but only for some of them, allowing for detailed analysis of the movement”. Moreover, their rarity is accentuated by the presence of lines inscribed in graphite on the prints, representing the axes of the human body. These lines, superimposed on the same tracing paper, made it possible to understand Man's gait in the most abstract of ways. In 1898, a book by Félix Regnault with a preface by Marey, could have given this set its title: How we walk.
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17 gelatin silver prints on semi-matte paper trimmed to edge. Minor discolorations and minimal silver mirroring along edges, some extreme corners are very slightly bumped, all consistent with age and handling. Please note these works are sold unframed.
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Lot 94Sale 21071
Homme qui marche (the Walking man), Chronophotographie, c. 1890-1895ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY (1830-1904)Estimate: EUR 30,000 - 50,000
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