[Fotoescultura]
Fotoescultura is a Mexican folk art form that flourished from the late 1920s through the early 1980s. Often commissioned by traveling salesmen to honor individuals, commemorate important events, or memorialize the dead, fotoesculturas typically consist of a hand-tinted portrait photograph, trimmed and adhered to a carved mount of the same shape and surrounded by an elaborate wooden frame. Sold primarily in Mexico as well as in Mexican-American communities in Houston and Chicago, fotoesculturas were particularly popular during and after World War II, when families were anxious to memorialize absent sons, brothers, and fathers. The vivid presence of this well-preserved portrait of a young man beautifully exemplifies the personal and devotional nature of the form.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Fotoescultura]
- Artist: Unknown (Mexican)
- Date: 1950s
- Medium: Gelatin silver print adhered to carved, polychrome wooden mount with two sheets of glass
- Dimensions: Approx. 20 × 15 × 4 in. (50.8 × 38.1 × 10.2 cm)
- Classifications: Sculpture, Photographs
- Credit Line: Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.239
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.