id: 165147 accession number: 2007.149 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2007.149 updated: 2023-08-24 00:17:00.620000 The Crystal Ball, 1931. Jacques-Henri Lartigue (French, 1894–1986). Gelatin silver print, toned; image: 23.7 x 30 cm (9 5/16 x 11 13/16 in.); paper: 24.2 x 30 cm (9 1/2 x 11 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2007.149 Photograph by Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministère de la Culture - France / AAJHL title: The Crystal Ball title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1931 creation date earliest: 1931 creation date latest: 1931 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: Photograph by Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministère de la Culture - France / AAJHL --- culture: France, 20th century technique: gelatin silver print, toned department: Photography collection: PH - French 20th Century type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Jacques-Henri Lartigue (French, 1894–1986) - artist Jacques-Henri Lartigue French, 1894-1986 Born in Courbevoie, near Paris, Jacques-Henri Lartigue was seven years old when his father gave him a hand camera as a Christmas gift. The young Lartigue enthusiastically photographed the privileged world in which he lived, capturing scenes of daily life: elegant men and women promenading on the Bois de Boulogne, along the beach, or at the races; his older brother's exploits with a homemade glider and bobsleigh; the exciting speed of automobiles and flying machines. Fascinated by the world around him, he took numerous photographs, many unposed, preserving in these childhood images moments from the carefree, prosperous world of the Belle Epoque. Following studies at the Académie Julian, Lartigue's interest turned to painting. His photographs remained stored in private albums, known only to family and friends, until 1963 when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, held an exhibition of his work. Since that time a number of books and exhibitions have featured his images, and in 1979 Lartigue donated his work to the French government. M.M. --- measurements: Image: 23.7 x 30 cm (9 5/16 x 11 13/16 in.); Paper: 24.2 x 30 cm (9 1/2 x 11 13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Black estate stamp on verso of print: "COLL. RENEE PERLE/VENTE/J.H./LARTIGUE translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Begierde im Blick: Surrealistische Fotografie opening date: 2009-05-11T04:00:00 Begierde im Blick: Surrealistische Fotografie. Hamburger Kunsthalle (May 11-29, 2009). title: Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography opening date: 2014-10-19T00:00:00 Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2014-January 11, 2015). title: Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today opening date: 2019-10-12T04:00:00 Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR (organizer) (October 12, 2019-January 6, 2020). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Étude Tajan, Paris Dec. 21, 2000, no. 69, sold to David Raymond) date: December 21, 2000 footnotes: citations: David Raymond [b.1979], New York, NY date: 2001-2007 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2007- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Holding this symbol of divination and future sight is Reneé Perle, Lartigue’s lover and muse from 1930-32. Through reflection, the ball makes visible some of the elements that were behind the camera. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E. Hinson, Ian Walker, and Lisa Kurzner. Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography : the David Raymond Collection in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 2014. page number: Reproduced: p. 6-7, no. 3; reproduced and mentioned: p. 216 url: Schneede, Uwe M. Begierde im Blick: surrealistische Photographie. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2005. page number: Reproduced: p. 103 url: --- IMAGES