Gaiety expressed by the ideas of lustfulness, cynicism and lewdness
1854-1856, printed 1862
Medium
albumen print
Dimensions
image: 22.8 × 16.8 cm (9 × 6 5/8 in.) mount: 40 × 27.7 cm (15 3/4 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Edward E. MacCrone Fund
Accession Number
2015.52.31
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, French physician and photographer Guillaume-Benjaminmand Duchenne de Boune pioneered the scientific study of human emotions through photography. This striking albumen print from 1854–56, printed in 1862, capturesGaiety expressed by ideas of lustfulness, and lewdness" as part of his seminal album *Mécanisme de la physomie humaine* (Mechanism of Human Facial). Duchenne electrically stimulated facial muscles on live subjects—often elderly men from Parisian hospitals—to isolate "natural" expressions, blending art, medicine, and early psychology in a single image. The albu...
About the Artist
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amant Duchenne (de Boulogne)
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amant Duchenne de Boulogne (1806–1875) was a French neurologist whose pioneering use of photography to document human facial expression placed him at the unique intersection of medical science and visual art. Though primarily a physician rather than an artist in the conventional sense, his photographic work — produced in the 1850s and 1860s — has been recognized as a significant...