Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a photographic photography by Chana Orloff. It is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
This untitled photograph depicts Chana Orloff's 1915 wooden sculpture, L’Amazone, an unofficial portrait of Natalie Clifford Barney. The black-and-white image, mounted on green card, captures the sculpture's simple, rounded forms and textured wood grain.
Subject & Meaning
L’Amazone portrays a figure, identified as Natalie Clifford Barney, seated sideways on a horse. The sculpture's understated design, with the rider's arm resting on the horse's neck and the horse's head slightly averted, conveys a sense of quiet contemplation.
Technique & Style
The sculpture is carved from a single piece of wood, emphasizing rounded, smooth curves for both the human and equine forms. The visible wood grain adds a tactile quality, reflecting Orloff's emphasis on the material's natural texture.
History & Provenance
The photograph was part of a collection assembled by art historian and sculptor William Kineton Parkes, who gathered such images through questionnaires sent to sculptors in the 1920s. The collection was bequeathed in 1938.
Artist & collection
Artist
Chana Orloff carved figures from wood, stone, and bronze in Paris during the 1920s–30s, blending Art Deco lines with folk rhythms from her childhood in Ukraine.
