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Erwin Olaf

Catwalk I - De Helena Slicher trouwjurk 1759 - Rijksmuseum

2015

Lambda print on Fuji Chrystal Archive digital paper

133 × 100 cm

Ed./10 + 2AP

Location: Paris, France

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About the artwork

Seemingly defying our gaze, a fashionable woman from the second half of the 18th century stands out against a background reminiscent of studio photography. Captured in a full-length shot, she wears an immaculate headdress and skin, though marked by traces of powder, a symbol of 18th-century feminine elegance. The photograph's artificial light evokes portraits of Dutch masters, the artist's native country, giving the model's smooth skin an almost varnished appearance. Part of the Catwalk series, this work was produced in collaboration with Amsterdam's prestigious Rijksmuseum, where it was exhibited. The model's dress, a presumed mantua worn by Helena Slicher at her wedding in 1759, adds historical depth to the work and highlights fashion and photography's struggle for recognition as museum art.

Expert opinion

A promotional object for the exhibition and Erwin Olaf's work, this photograph was widely published, including on the cover of the famous Harper's Bazaar Art magazine, making it one of the most talked-about works in this series.

About the artist

Erwin Olaf (1959 - 2023) is a Dutch photographer. His work borrows from the codes of both photojournalism and fashion photography, which he has mastered to perfection. In 1988, the photographer was awarded the Young European Photographer prize for his Chessmen series, marking his entry onto the international scene. Preferring to work in series, the artist tells tragic or sordid stories, constructing them through strong contrasts between photographed subjects, lights and objects. His work has been the subject of group and solo exhibitions worldwide, including at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Bilbao Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art in Moscow.

“The exciting and prestigious mission entrusted to me by the most exceptional museum in the Netherlands - to design and shape the Catwalk exhibition - has come at just the right time. For several years now, I've been exploring other ways of presenting my photographic work and integrating it into installations, sounds, videos and films, in order to immerse viewers in a world that challenges and questions them.”

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