id:			376240
accession number:	2020.75
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.75
updated:		2021-03-27 12:17:39.441000

First Beauty Composite: Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Sophia Lauren, Marilyn Monroe, 1982, printed 1999. Nancy Burson (American, b. 1948). Gelatin silver print; image: 20.9 x 22.7 cm (8 1/4 x 8 15/16 in.); framed: 46.4 x 46.3 cm (18 1/4 x 18 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust 2020.75

title:				First Beauty Composite: Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Sophia Lauren, Marilyn Monroe
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1982, printed 1999
creation date earliest:		1982
creation date latest:		1982
current location:		
creditline:			The Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	gelatin silver print
department:	Photography
collection:	PH - American 1951-Present
type:		Photograph
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Nancy Burson (American, b. 1948)  - artist

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measurements: Image: 20.9 x 22.7 cm (8 1/4 x 8 15/16 in.); Framed: 46.4 x 46.3 cm (18 1/4 x 18 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	edition 11/15

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	Written in black ink on recto: "First Beauty Composite © 1982 Nancy Burson (signed) [illegible word] R.C. & D.K. 11/15"
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Studio of the Artist
	date: 1999
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Jan Kesner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA)
	date: 2000
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	John J. McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH
	date: 2000-2020
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: March 2, 2020
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
Standards of beauty vary not only across cultures but also through time.

digital description: 
By compositing the faces of female movie stars from two different eras, Nancy Burson helps us see how the type of face considered photogenic and therefore beautiful changed over the space of just a couple of decades.  Curiously, creating digital composites of women took Nancy Burson longer than producing composites of men because women’s hairstyles are much more varied.

wall description: 

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Burson, Nancy, Richard Carling, and David Kramlich. Composites: Computer-Generated Portraits. New York: Beech Tree Books, 1986.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Burson, Nancy, Michael L. Sand, Lynn Gumpert, Terrie Sultan, and Christopher C. French. Seeing and Believing: The Art of Nancy Burson. Santa Fe, N.M.: Twin Palms, 2002.
	page number: 	
	url:		

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IMAGES