Abelardo Morell (Cuban/American, b. 1948) Book: Le Antichita Romane by Piranesi, #2

Description:

Abelardo Morell (Cuban/American, b. 1948)

Book: Le Antichita Romane by Piranesi, #2, 1994. Signed "Abelardo Morell" l.l., titled and dated in pencil l.r. on the verso, numbered "9/30" on a Bonni Benrubi Gallery label on the verso of the backing board. Gelatin silver print, sight size 21 7/8 x 17 3/8 in. (55.6 x 44.2 cm),framed.
Condition: Gentle cockling.

N.B. Morell recalls the impetus for the series Books, "One day in 1993 I was looking at a book of works by El Greco. As I turned a page, its surface caught light from a window at a funny angle, changing a reproduction of a painting into a shimmering distortion. What I saw wasn't an El Greco anymore, but it was a beautiful new image nonetheless. I photographed this effect and was immediately inspired to find other ways of seeing books in a new light, so to speak."

Fittingly, Morell turned to Piranesi's Le Antichita Romane, a collection of etchings of Roman antiquities for inspiration in an early photograph from the series. The multifaceted architect, archeologist, and artist had written that creatives should not merely copy, but "ought to show [oneself] of an inventive…of a creating genius…ought to open…a road to the finding out of new ornaments and new manners."¹ Here Morell follows Piranesi's guidance and disassociates the two-dimensional reproduction from its original context, creates a multidimensional interpretation, all to return to the two-dimensional form in the printed photograph.

1. Liane Lefaivre and Alexander Tzonis, The Emergence of Modern Architecture (Taylor & Francis Group: London),2004, p. 377.
Estimate $1,200-1,800

Sheet size 23 7/8 x 20 in., frame size 29 x 24.1/4 in., neutral-tone print, semi-gloss surface on double-weight paper with margins, print in excellent condition.


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