Playthings: The Uncanny Art of Morton Bartlett
30 Aug 2014 - 01 Feb 2015
Morton Bartlett
Untitled (Girl in Yellow Sunsuit), 1955, printed 2006,
dye coupler print
28 1/4 x 20 in.
LACMA, gift of Barry Sloan
©The Bartlett Project, LLC.
Untitled (Girl in Yellow Sunsuit), 1955, printed 2006,
dye coupler print
28 1/4 x 20 in.
LACMA, gift of Barry Sloan
©The Bartlett Project, LLC.
PLAYTHINGS: THE UNCANNY ART OF MORTON BARTLETT
30 August 2014 – 1 February 2015
For nearly thirty years, Morton Bartlett (United States, 1909–1992) had a secret artistic passion. In 1936, at the age of twenty-seven, he began to create fifteen lifelike dolls, twelve girls and three boys, ranging in age from eight to sixteen. He carved and painted their bodies in exacting detail to imitate live flesh and stitched their intricate costumes by hand. Bartlett then staged the completed dolls on studio sets of his own design and shot them with his Brownie camera. Even close friends were unaware of the vast body of portraits he produced in this private pursuit. Bartlett ceased photographing his dolls in 1963, and it was not until his death in 1992 that they were found, neatly packed and locked away in a cupboard in his Boston brownstone.
The dolls, mute and inanimate, are brought to life through Bartlett’s camera. His costuming and staging imbues the figures with emotional and psychological depth, enlivening them with individual personalities.
In addition to a selection of color photographs of the dolls, this installation features working materials from Bartlett’s personal archive, never before exhibited in a public institution. Borrowed from the collection of Barry Sloane, this material places Bartlett’s doll photographs into dialogue with his commercial and amateur photographic practice.
30 August 2014 – 1 February 2015
For nearly thirty years, Morton Bartlett (United States, 1909–1992) had a secret artistic passion. In 1936, at the age of twenty-seven, he began to create fifteen lifelike dolls, twelve girls and three boys, ranging in age from eight to sixteen. He carved and painted their bodies in exacting detail to imitate live flesh and stitched their intricate costumes by hand. Bartlett then staged the completed dolls on studio sets of his own design and shot them with his Brownie camera. Even close friends were unaware of the vast body of portraits he produced in this private pursuit. Bartlett ceased photographing his dolls in 1963, and it was not until his death in 1992 that they were found, neatly packed and locked away in a cupboard in his Boston brownstone.
The dolls, mute and inanimate, are brought to life through Bartlett’s camera. His costuming and staging imbues the figures with emotional and psychological depth, enlivening them with individual personalities.
In addition to a selection of color photographs of the dolls, this installation features working materials from Bartlett’s personal archive, never before exhibited in a public institution. Borrowed from the collection of Barry Sloane, this material places Bartlett’s doll photographs into dialogue with his commercial and amateur photographic practice.