Tea for Two

1935

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

In the mid-1930s a German industrial manufacturer commissioned the photographer Umbo (Otto Umbehr) to promote its new fish-eye lens camera. A known master of perspectival play, Umbo here riffs on the association of overindulgence with visual distortion. Posing with his sister, he stages the scene from below, as if seen by a buzzed companion who has slipped beneath the table. The photograph appeared in the pages of a popular periodical, alongside other inventive applications of the camera’s 180-degree lens.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Tea for Two
Artist: Umbo (Otto Umbehr) (German, Düsseldorf 1902–1980 Hanover)
Date: 1935
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Diameter: 9 7/16 in. (24 cm)
Framed: 19 × 19 in. (48.3 × 48.3 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Collection
Curatorial Department: Photographs