The Poor Man's Picture Gallery: Stereoscopy versus Paintings in the Victorian Era - Hardcover

Denis Pellerin; Brian May

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0957424612 ISBN 13: 9780957424616

Publisher: The London Stereoscopic Company, 2014

Synopsis

This astonishing set of stereocards from Brian May's collection reconstructs 14 well-known Victorian works in Tate Britain using real actors and staged scenes. The stereos are contemporary with the paintings, and their existence was hitherto unknown outside the circle of specialist collectors of Victoriana. They were produced for commercial reasons -- the advent of a new painting by a great artist was big news, but most people were not able to access and enjoy the new works of art. Entrepreneurial photographers of the day reconstructed the scenes, photographed them, and sold the stereocards for profit. In addition to their beauty, they shed light on the story of these famous paintings, and reveal a great deal about the society of the time.

The format shows the painting itself, followed by the stereocard versions of that painting with explanatory text. The artists include Landseer, Maclise, Wallis, Millais, Calderon, Collinson, Frith, Egley, Collins, Leslie, Haydon; and the photographers were the most distinguished of that time. The book accompanies an exhibition of these cards, which will be held at the Tate from October 2014 on.

With over 300 photographs and illustrations, this extraordinary volume comes slipcased with a 3-D viewer.

About this title

About the Author:

Denis Pellerin, dedicated photo historian, was a teacher for over 30 years and has been interested in photography since the age of ten. He was bitten by the stereo bug in the 1980s, has been fascinated by the Diableries for over 25 years, and has written several books and articles on 19th-century stereo photography for various magazines, institutions and museums. He graduated as an MA in Art History at the Sorbonne in 1999 and has since been specializing in French and British Victorian genre stereo views. He is currently working on his PhD.

Brian May, CBE, PhD, FRAS, is a founding member of Queen, a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer. Brian postponed a career in astronomy when Queen's popularity first exploded, but after an incendiary 30 years as a rock musician, returned to astrophysics in 2006, when he completed his PhD and coauthored his first book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott. Stereoscopy has been a lifelong passion, and his second book, A Village Lost and Found, written with Elena Vidal, introduced the genius of Victorian stereo photographer T. R. Williams to a global audience.

About this edition

• Publisher: The London Stereoscopic Company
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0957424612
• ISBN 13: 9780957424616
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208