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Lot Essay
In the 25th anniversary report for Harvard University's class of 1932, Morton Bartlett (1909-1992) wrote, "My hobby is sculpting in plaster. Its purpose is that of all proper hobbies - to let out urges that do not find expression in other channels" (Ken Johnson, "The man who played with dolls," The Boston Globe, 29 July 2007). His plasterwork took the form of half-sized detailed, anatomically accurate dolls - twelve girls and three boys - ranging from ages 8 to 16. They featured detachable arms and legs that could be styled in various poses, and had a variety of tailored outfits appropriate for a range of settings.
A Phillips Exeter Academy graduate and a Harvard dropout, Bartlett first began doll making in 1936 and stopped in 1963. During this time, he also photographed his figures in various scenes and outfits, complete with dramatic lighting and the trappings of childhood. This photograph depicts one of the dolls practicing her arabesque in a sequin-encrusted tutu but no ballet slippers. She wears a tiara and her childhood curls flow down her shoulders. Bartlett photographed this composition from several different angles; two variants are illustrated in Marion Harris, Family Found: The Lifetime Obsession of Morton Bartlett (New York, 1994), pp. 38, 39. Bartlett's photographs document an intimacy between the artist and his dolls, each revealing Bartlett's pride in the figures and their activities. Approximately 200 original prints by the artist have survived, of which this is one.
A Phillips Exeter Academy graduate and a Harvard dropout, Bartlett first began doll making in 1936 and stopped in 1963. During this time, he also photographed his figures in various scenes and outfits, complete with dramatic lighting and the trappings of childhood. This photograph depicts one of the dolls practicing her arabesque in a sequin-encrusted tutu but no ballet slippers. She wears a tiara and her childhood curls flow down her shoulders. Bartlett photographed this composition from several different angles; two variants are illustrated in Marion Harris, Family Found: The Lifetime Obsession of Morton Bartlett (New York, 1994), pp. 38, 39. Bartlett's photographs document an intimacy between the artist and his dolls, each revealing Bartlett's pride in the figures and their activities. Approximately 200 original prints by the artist have survived, of which this is one.