Vivien and Merlin
Artist/Culture
Julia Margaret Cameron
(British, 1815–1879)
Dateabout 1874
Mediumalbumen print from wet collodion negative
Dimensions33.1 x 25.7 cm (13 1/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund
Object number1986.75
Label Text2000-02-24: Julia Margaret Cameron
British, 1815-1879
Vivien and Merlin, 1874
Albumen print
Stoddard Acquisition Fund, 1986.75
During a fifteen-year stay on the Isle of Wight off the coast of southern England, the Indian-born Cameron took up photography and established herself as one of the nineteenth-century's foremost portraitists. Known for her long exposure times, Cameron kept her sitters still for three to seven minutes. She selected both friends and strangers as models, sometimes staring out of her window for hours looking for the right face in the crowd.
This particular work showcases Cameron's husband as Merlin, and a woman she spotted in church takes the role of Vivien. One among many photographs made to illustrate Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Idylls of the King, this work was copied into woodcut for thProvenanceLee Gallery, Boston, MAOn View
Not on view
