id:			361519
accession number:	2019.179
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2019.179
updated:		

Champ de Mars from the Eiffel Tower, 1931 (printed 1950s). Ilse Bing (American, 1899–1998). Gelatin silver print, ferrotyped; image: 20.3 x 27.9 cm (8 x 11 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The A. W. Ellenberger, Sr., Endowment Fund 2019.179 © Estate of Ilse Bing

title:				Champ de Mars from the Eiffel Tower
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1931 (printed 1950s)
creation date earliest:		1931
creation date latest:		1931
current location:		
creditline:			The A. W. Ellenberger, Sr., Endowment Fund
copyright:			© Estate of Ilse Bing

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	Gelatin silver print, ferrotyped
department:	Photography
collection:	PH - American 1900-1950
type:		Photograph
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Ilse Bing (American, 1899–1998)  - artist
American and German photographer, born 1899 or 1900, died 1998
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measurements: Image: 20.3 x 27.9 cm (8 x 11 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Ilse Bing: Queen of the Leica
	opening date:   2020-03-07T05:00:00
	<i>Ilse Bing: Queen of the Leica</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 7-October 11, 2020).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg, Scarsdale, NY
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: September 3, 2019
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
Ilse Bing was known as the “Queen of the Leica.”

digital description:
Radical viewpoints—especially the worm’s- or bird’s-eye view—were a hallmark of 1920s and 1930s avant-garde imagery, reflecting a new attitude toward space spurred by recent technological innovations such as the skyscraper and the airplane. Bing was one of the first professionals to adopt the Leica, a lightweight, small 35 mm camera. It did not require a tripod and could easily be held at any angle, thus especially suited to this new way of seeing.

wall description:
Ilse Bing was one of many modernist photographers who shot the Eiffel Tower in the mid-1920s and 1930s. The tower’s irregular grid of thick black lines and shapes, set on bold diagonals, suited the modernists’ interest in geometric compositions, while its height aided their exploration of unusual viewpoints. The top right image was taken during a gust of wind (note the man holding on to his hat). Bing established a twisting motion similar to that in the nearby <em>Cancan Dancer,</em> but here the spiral is made even more dizzying by the dappled light and extreme tilt of the staircase. The bottom photograph contrasts the structure’s massive ironwork with the pedestrians below, whose bodies seem tiny even when lengthened by their shadows.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	"In perspective: art-world news and market updates, exhibitions and events: Leica queen." Art &amp; antiques 43, no. 3 (March 2020): p.24-35.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 30; Mention: p. 30
	url:		

	Tannenbaum, Barbara. “Queen of the Leica: Ilse Bing found freedom of expression in a small, lightweight camera.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>60, no. 2 (March/April 2020): 30-31.
	page number: 	Reproduced: P. 31.
	url:		

	Exhibitions--Extended Dates. "Ilse Bing: Queen of the Leica.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>60, no. 3 (Summer 2020): 4-5.
	page number: 	Reproduced: P. 5; Mentioned: P. 4.
	url:		

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IMAGES