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Children's Hands in a Washbasin

Photograph
c. 1930 (photographed)
Artist/Maker

During the 1920s and 1930s photographers began to explore new sensations of space. They approached a subject from a variety of angles, above and below, to express the speed and dislocation of modern life. The result was a refreshed perception and appreciation of even the most everyday subjects and surroundings. Here, the ritual of washing hands becomes a study of forms, textures and dynamics. Nevertheless, the subject loses none of its human appeal.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Children's Hands in a Washbasin (generic title)
  • Kinderhände im Washbecken (alternative title)
Materials and techniques
Gelatin-silver print
Brief description
Photograph by Erhard Dörner, 'Children's Hands in a Washbasin', gelatin-silver print, c.1930
Physical description
Black and white photograph of two pairs of children's hands (and arms) above a white circular wash-basin; one pair of hands holds a block of soap. The view point is from above.
Dimensions
  • Sheet length: 32.7cm
  • Sheet width: 26cm
Style
Gallery label
Gallery 100, 2016-17: Erhard Dörner (1888–1933) ‘Children’s Hands in a Washbasin’ About 1930 During the 1920s and ’30s, photographers began to experiment with approaches to space and with photographing from unexpected angles. The images they created seemed to express the speed of modern life, and created a new appreciation of everyday subjects. Here, the ritual of washing hands becomes a study of forms, textures and dynamics. Gelatin silver print Museum no. E.799-1997
Credit line
Copyright Estate of Erhard Dörner
Object history
Erhard Dörner worked in Germany during the 1930s as a painter and amateur photographer. His photography was displayed in the influential Film und Foto exhibition held in Stuttgart in 1929. Like many of the works in this exhibition, Dörner's photographs explored the new ideas about photography emerging from the Bauhau school of design. The Bauhaus artist and designer László Moholy-Nagy expressed this approach to photography in A New Instrument of Vision (1932):

"Through photography...we can participate in new experiences of space...we have attained an enlargement and sublimation of our appreciation of space, the comprehension of a new spatial culture. Thanks to the photographer humanity has acquired the power of perceiving its surroundings, and its very existence, with new eyes".
Subjects depicted
Summary
During the 1920s and 1930s photographers began to explore new sensations of space. They approached a subject from a variety of angles, above and below, to express the speed and dislocation of modern life. The result was a refreshed perception and appreciation of even the most everyday subjects and surroundings. Here, the ritual of washing hands becomes a study of forms, textures and dynamics. Nevertheless, the subject loses none of its human appeal.
Bibliographic reference
Sotheby's Auction Catalogue, 'Important Avant-Garde Photographs of the 1920s and 1930s: The Helene Anderson Collection', Friday 2 May, 1997
Collection
Accession number
E.799-1997

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Record createdAugust 5, 2003
Record URL
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