Chromatics
Coburn first gained attention for his portraits of British men of letters, but his lasting contribution to modern art was the "vortograph," the first intentionally abstract photograph. While working in London with Ezra Pound, Coburn attached three mirrors to his lens, fracturing the camera image into a pattern of nonrepresentational frames, like a kaleidoscope.
Artwork Details
- Title: Chromatics
- Artist: Alvin Langdon Coburn (British, Boston, Massachusetts 1882–1966 Wales)
- Date: ca. 1917
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 27.2 x 20.6 cm. (10 11/16 x 8 1/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gift of Silas R. Mountsier III, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.1008.4
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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