Silent Partners: Artist and Mannequin from Function to Fetish (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300208221)

The articulated human figure made of wax or wood has been a common tool in artistic practice since the 16th century. Its mobile limbs enable the artist to study anatomical proportion, fix a pose at will, and perfect the depiction of drapery and clothing. Over the course of the 19th century, the mannequin gradually emerged from the studio to become the artist's subject, at first humorously, then in more complicated ways, playing on the unnerving psychological presence of a figure that was realistic, yet unreal--lifelike, yet lifeless.

Silent Partners locates the artist's mannequin within the context of an expanding universe of effigies, avatars, dolls, and shop window dummies. Generously illustrated, this book features works by such artists as Poussin, Gainsborough, Degas, Courbet, Cézanne, Kokoschka, Dalí, Man Ray, and others; the astute, perceptive text examines their range of responses to the uncanny and highly suggestive potential of the mannequin.

Published in association with the Fitzwilliam Museum

Exhibition Schedule:

Musée Bourdelle, Paris
(03/15/15-05/15/15)

Fitzwilliam Museum
(10/14/14-01/15/15)

Author: Jane Munro
ISBN-10: 0300208227
ISBN-13: 9780300208221
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/25/2014
Pages: 280
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 3.80lbs
Size: 11.30h x 9.40w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2015 pg. 1642