Le Louvre Revisité
In his series Le Louvre revisité (The Louvre Revisited), Christian Milovanoff plays on the tension between a detail of a painting, its frame, and the supporting wall. In this photograph of Delacroix's famous 1822 painting, the unadorned, rigid, massive, rectilinear frame vividly contrasts with the body convulsed in the foam of the infernal lake, organizing the picture in an abstract sequence of dark and light stripes.
A flaneur in the museum, Milovanoff always scrupulously transcribed the text of the labels, and used it to title his pictures. In the same vein, he never added any lighting, therefore documenting the conditions established by the curators. By exchanging the original narrative for one of his own, however, he reminds us that, in museums, we see art under the light of the moment, our glance obeying our own whim.
A flaneur in the museum, Milovanoff always scrupulously transcribed the text of the labels, and used it to title his pictures. In the same vein, he never added any lighting, therefore documenting the conditions established by the curators. By exchanging the original narrative for one of his own, however, he reminds us that, in museums, we see art under the light of the moment, our glance obeying our own whim.
Artwork Details
- Title: Le Louvre Revisité
- Artist: Christian Milovanoff (French, born 1948)
- Date: 1982, printed 1986
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 37.5 x 49.9 cm (14 3/4 x 19 5/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Charina Foundation Inc. Gift, 1987
- Object Number: 1987.1056
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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