Poor Self Traits #2 Shep

Photograph

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

Entry/Object ID

2021.25

Description

photograph of Catholic nuns with the artist and a drawing covered in an red, orange, and grey pattern

Context

The three sets of artist’s proofs here are taken from Rossi’s 1970 series Poor Self Traits, a title which puns on “self-portrait.” In these works, Rossi juxtaposes photographs from her personal life—in this case, a photograph of herself amongst the Catholic nuns with whom she was affiliated in the late 1960s—with one of her signature drawings. The photographic portion, which is printed in the negative with the figures cut out and reprinted in transparent ink, suggests a spectral, ghost-like quality, making the seemingly more realistic photographic medium now appear more surreal than the abstract self-portrait at the top.

Acquisition

Accession

2021.25-28

Source or Donor

Kohler Foundation, Inc.

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc.

Made/Created

Artist

Barbara Rossi

Date made

1970

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Print, Photographic

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Photograph

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Getty AAT

Concept

photographs, visual works (works), drawings (visual works)

Hierarchy Name

Visual Works (hierarchy name), Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name)

Facet

Objects Facet

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Negatives, Nuns, Catholicism

Dimensions

Dimension Description

5 in x 7 in (bottom)

Height

8-1/2 in

Width

6-1/2 in