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Hans Bellmer — Les Jeux de la Poupée XII
Hans Bellmer

Les Jeux de la Poupée XII

A haunting and erotically charged hand-colored gelatin silver print, this work features Bellmer's infamous articulated doll arranged in a contorted, fragmented pose that challenges conventional notions of the human body. The delicate, dreamlike washes of color applied over the photographic surface lend the image a disturbing tenderness, blurring the boundary between the mechanical and the flesh. Rooted in Surrealist philosophy, the work explores themes of desire, control, and the uncanny through its obsessive reconstruction and dislocation of the female form.

Medium
Hand-colored gelatin silver print, printed 1949, mounted.

🔨 Auction Lot

Photographs

April 1, 2014

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About this work

Hans Bellmer, Les Jeux de la Poupée XII

A haunting and erotically charged hand-colored gelatin silver print, this work features Bellmer's infamous articulated doll arranged in a contorted, fragmented pose that challenges conventional notions of the human body. The delicate, dreamlike washes of color applied over the photographic surface lend the image a disturbing tenderness, blurring the boundary between the mechanical and the flesh. Rooted in Surrealist philosophy, the work explores themes of desire, control, and the uncanny through its obsessive reconstruction and dislocation of the female form.

Medium
Hand-colored gelatin silver print, printed 1949, mounted.
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Surrealism, Dark Mood, German Artist, Photography, 20th Century, Figure Study, Mid Century Modern, Erotic Art, Male Artist, Surrealist Master, Gelatin Silver Print, Female Figure, Dark And Unsettling, Hand-colored print, Doll Imagery

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