Plate Number 337. Boxing, open hand

Art Historical Context

Step into the pioneering world of motion capture with *Plate Number 337. Boxing, open hand* (1887), a collotype print by Eadweard Muy. This striking image, measuring 17.8 × 43.9 cm, captures a nude male figure mid-boxing pose, his open hand extended in a dynamic gesture. Part of Muybridge's monumental *Animal Locomotion*—comprising 781 plates—Muybridge freezes a sequence of human movement, revealing the fluidity and anatomy of action invisible to the naked eye. Muybridge, a British-American photographer, revolutionized visual arts in the late 19th century through chronophotography. Using a battery of up to 24 cameras triggered by electromagnetic shutters, he dissected motion into precise instants, debunking myths about how bodies move (like the myth of a horse's legs all lifting off the ground at once). This plate exemplifies his human studies, blending scientific rigor with artistic precision. The collotype medium, a photomechanical process, allowed for exquisite reproductions faithful to his original glass negatives, making complex sequences accessible to scholars and artists alike. Acquired by the Corcoran Gallery in 1887 and now in the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, this work holds immense historical significance. It paved the way for cinema, influencing inventors like Thomas Edison and filmmakers. Imagine: what began as curiosity-driven experiments in Stanford's California labs evolved into the foundation of modern animation and sports photography. A testament to human ingenuity, it invites us to marvel at the poetry hidden in motion.

About the Artist

Eadweard Muybridge · 1830–1904

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was an English-American photographer who revolutionized the understanding of motion through his pioneering chronophotographic studies. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames, England, he emigrated to America and became famous first for his dramatic landscape photographs of Yosemite Valley, then for his groundbreaking motion studies that proved horses li...