Grand Master

Clegg & Guttmann|Michael Clegg|Martin Guttmann

1982 · Silver dye bleach print · Photographs

The "grand master" pictured here is not a specific individual, but an assemblage of stereotypes. Artist duo Clegg & Guttmann stage scenes that borrow from the history of portraiture—from Rembrandt paintings to annual-report photography and album-cover art. Their central conceit is to reverse the traditional relationship between artist and patron, recruiting those who usually do the commissioning—collectors, curators, and foundation heads—to appear as anonymous characters in their constructed photographs. Capitalizing on this implied authority, the artists here asked their subject to playact a pose of power. He sits in an ornate Odd Fellows chair before a projected tableau evocative of the same shadowy organization. With uncanny naturalism, he inhabits the role of a ravaged yet stoic puppet master manipulating unseen strings.

Artist

Clegg & Guttmann|Michael Clegg|Martin Guttmann

Date

1982

Medium

Silver dye bleach print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gift of Eve Feuer Urvater, in memory of Ronald M. Urvater, 2014