THOMAS STRUTH b. 1954) MUSEE D'ORSAY II, PARI

A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

Provenance
Galerie Meert Rihoux, BRUSSELS
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, NEW YORK

Exhibited
NORTH MIAMI, Museum of Contemporary Art, PAINTING INTO PHOTOGRAPHY. PHOTOGRAPHY INTO PAINTING, December 20, 1996 February 16, 1997, p. 47 (another example exhibited, illustrated)
DUISBURG, Museum Küppersmühle: Sammlung Grothe, PHOTO UND PAPIER, February 26-May 31, 2000 (another example exhibited)

Literature
H. Belting, ed., THOMAS STRUTH: MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPHS, MUNICH, 1993, p. 41, no. 6 (illustrated)
B. Clearwater, PAINTING INTO PHOTOGRAPHY. PHOTOGRAPHY INTO PAINTING, MIAMI,1996, p. 47 (illustrated)
J. Van Es and C. Sieuw,eds., THE BEAUTY OF INTIMACY: LENS AND PAPER, THE HAGUE, 2000, p. 141 (illustrated)
C. Balth, THE BEAUTY OF INTIMACY: LENS AND PAPER,THE HAGUE,2000, p. 141 (illustrated) P. H. Halpert, "Art Inc.: A New Gursky Show Heats Up the Hot Art Market," AMERICAN PHOTO, March/April 2001, vol. XII, no. 2, n.p., no. 3 (illustrated)

STRUTH'S STAGELIKE MANAGEMENT OF STILLNESS AND MOVEMENT HAS AN ADDITIONAL DIMENSION. JUST AS THE PAINTINGS FORM A STAGE FOR THE FIGURES WHO HAVE BEEN PAINTED, THE ROOMS FORM THE STAGES FOR THE PERSONS BEING PHOTOGRAPHED. THE WALLS ARE DOMINATED BY THE PAINTINGS, BUT THE VISITORS, AS THEY WALK ABOUT AND STRIDE UP AND DOWN, COMMAND THE FLOOR OF THE ROOM IN WHICH THE PAINTINGS ARE SEEN. THE PAINTED TABLEAU, WITH ITS COMPOSITION, CORRESPONDS TO THE TABLEAU VIVANT OF THE OBSERVERS, EVEN WHEN THE PERMANENCE OF A LIVING PICTURE IS ONLY BEING SIMULATED BY THE PHOTOGRAPH. THE FLOOR, LIKE A STAGE, IS BRIGHTLY ILLUMINATED FROM ABOVE, AND THE LIGHT ALSO FALLS ON THE FIGURES FROM ABOVE. THE COMPOSITION OF THE VIEWERS IN THE PHOTO CORRESPONDS TO THE COMPOSITION OF THE PAINTINGS, BUT IS FORMED BY HIGHLY UNSTABLE ELEMENTS. PARADOXICALLY, IT IS THE PASSERS-BY –ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT POSING AND ARE NOT EVEN AWARE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER –WHO FORM THE EPHEMERAL GEOMETRIC SHAPE OF THE COMPOSITION THAT IS SIMULTANEOUSLY ALWAYS POINTING BEYOND ITSELF TO THE ENDURING GEOMETRY OF THE ROOMS AND THEIR PAINTINGS.

H. Belting, THOMAS STRUTH: MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPHS, MUNICH, 1993, p. 9