Existing comment:
Henri-Charles Guérard
(French, 1846–1897)
[Imprint of the Artist's Left Hand], ca. 1885
Unique nature print
This impression of Guérard's left hand was no doubt made at the same time as the one of his right, a print now in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Whether the artist intended the hand prints as a sort of "self-portrait" or was merely playing with fingerprint technology, which at the time was emerging as a means to track and convict criminals, they are emblematic of his daring and enthusiasm for experimentation. Without equal for their time, the prints are comparable only to the considerably later Hand Shows (1967) of the Conceptual artist Robert Filliou or the Mud Hands (1980s) of Land Art pioneer Richard Long. |