Thomas Struth (b. 1954)
Thomas Struth (b. 1954)

Muse du Louvre 4, Paris 1989

Details
Thomas Struth (b. 1954)
Struth, T.
Muse du Louvre 4, Paris 1989
signed, titled, numbered and dated 'Muse du Louvre 4, Paris 1989 4/10 Print: 1990 Thomas Struth' on the reverse
Cibachrome print
726 x 856 (184 x 217cm.)
This work is number four from an edition of ten.
Provenance
Marian Goodman Gallery, New York Dr. Nadal-Ginard and Dr. Vijak Mahdavi, Boston
Literature
"The Frame of Reference: At the Hirshhorn, Struth's Watchful Photos", The Washington Post, June 10, 1992, p. B2.
Exhibited
New York, Marian Goodman Gallery, Thomas Struth, February-March 1990. Washington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Directions - Thomas Struth: Museum Photographs, May-August 1992.
Hamburg, Kunsthalle, Thomas Struth: Museum Photographs, November 1993-January 1994 (illustrated pl. 3; another print exhibited). Kibbutz Hazorea, Wilfrid Israel Museum; Petach-Tikva Museum; and Ashdod Museum, Quotations in Art-from Michelangelo to Hitchcock, November 1997-January 1998, p. 7 (illustrated). New York, The Museum of Modern Art; and San Diego, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Museum as Muse: Artists Reflect, March 1999- January 2000, p. 119 (illustrated: another print exhibited).

Lot Essay

Muse du Louvre 4, Paris 1989 is one of Thomas Struth's "museum photographs" photographing visitors to the world's great art collections. According to the artist:

I felt a need to make these museum photographs because many works of art, which were created out of particular historical circumstances, have now become mere fetishes, like athletes or celebrities, and the original inspiration for them is fully obliterated. (T)he viewer of the works seen in the photograph finds him/herself in a space in which I, too, belong when I stand in front of the photograph. The photographs illuminate the connection and should lead the viewers away from regarding the works as mere fetish-objects and initiate their own understanding or intervention in historical relationships.

I got the first ideas for these works in the Louvre around Christmastime; it was very crowded and I thought that the world of visitors in the Louvre, people of the most diverse ages and ethnicities, were incredibly similar to the themes in the paintings. And my other conclusion was that I wondered why all the people were there; what were they getting out of it; was any change occurring in their personal lives because of it, in their public lives, in their activity, in their family, with their friends? Is any change through the museum visit even possible, or is it an entertainment, like watching music videos or the way one needs visual refreshment to keep from getting bored. (cited in McShine, p. 116)

More from Contemporary Art (Evening Sale)

View All
View All