Mystery print that's now a mystery photograph too
March 26, 2012 10:57 AM Subscribe
Please help us identify this print (and photograph) from the 1920s.
A very faded version of this print has been in my boyfriend's family for some time. He's been curious about it's origin and we finally set to googling. We found this image of the print (much gaudier than expected), but that led to the photograph on Flickr (which is lovely).
We're curious about both, but I think the photograph has especially captured our imaginations. I'm planning on messaging the Flickr user about the image to see if she has any further info, but I'm hoping that it's familiar to someone out there. Maybe it looks like a part of a series or a very specific genre that will ring a bell?
Bonus trivia: a copy of the print is used in the set for the Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever.
A very faded version of this print has been in my boyfriend's family for some time. He's been curious about it's origin and we finally set to googling. We found this image of the print (much gaudier than expected), but that led to the photograph on Flickr (which is lovely).
We're curious about both, but I think the photograph has especially captured our imaginations. I'm planning on messaging the Flickr user about the image to see if she has any further info, but I'm hoping that it's familiar to someone out there. Maybe it looks like a part of a series or a very specific genre that will ring a bell?
Bonus trivia: a copy of the print is used in the set for the Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever.
Best answer: Aha, I was able to transform the print photo to a flat image, and then doing a Google reverse image search found it: Psyche (1909) by William Sergeant Kendall. Looks like The Met owns it, though it is not on display.
posted by fings at 11:51 AM on March 26, 2012
posted by fings at 11:51 AM on March 26, 2012
a copy of the print is used in the set for the Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever.
Really? Where? My guess: hanging on the wall of one of those drab, Depression-era rooms, but which one? Supplying a screen-shot of it, with Kirk or Spock (or Joan Collins) in the foreground, would activate a lot more responses to your search.
posted by Rash at 11:58 AM on March 26, 2012
Really? Where? My guess: hanging on the wall of one of those drab, Depression-era rooms, but which one? Supplying a screen-shot of it, with Kirk or Spock (or Joan Collins) in the foreground, would activate a lot more responses to your search.
posted by Rash at 11:58 AM on March 26, 2012
It also looks like the print may actually be a print of a copy of the original painting; there's some details in the face, the background color, etc. that don't quite seem to match exactly.
posted by scody at 11:58 AM on March 26, 2012
posted by scody at 11:58 AM on March 26, 2012
Just wanted to point out that the girl from the fairy photograph can also be seen in the picture right below it in fings' second link, so the book might indeed be a good place to look for more information about the picture.
posted by Jelly at 12:31 PM on March 26, 2012
posted by Jelly at 12:31 PM on March 26, 2012
I suspect the photo is someone's attempt to re-create the painting (you know, like this), rather that the model that the artist used to paint from.
posted by fings at 12:33 PM on March 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by fings at 12:33 PM on March 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Ooh, this is excellent info. Thank you all!
fings: Hooray! This is just the info I hoped to find. My boyfriend will be so happy. Thank you for your image-manipulation mojo!
Rash: I don't have any screengrabs from the episode, but I do believe it's from one of the sets for the American past.
scody: Yes, it definitely looks like an amateurish copy of the painting. Yet someone decided it was work making into a print, very odd.
posted by annaramma at 12:34 PM on March 26, 2012
fings: Hooray! This is just the info I hoped to find. My boyfriend will be so happy. Thank you for your image-manipulation mojo!
Rash: I don't have any screengrabs from the episode, but I do believe it's from one of the sets for the American past.
scody: Yes, it definitely looks like an amateurish copy of the painting. Yet someone decided it was work making into a print, very odd.
posted by annaramma at 12:34 PM on March 26, 2012
Response by poster: Jelly: The timeline certainly seems to support that idea. Good looking out!
posted by annaramma at 12:36 PM on March 26, 2012
posted by annaramma at 12:36 PM on March 26, 2012
Perhaps you should ask Michael Lesy, per fings's suggestion?
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:01 PM on March 26, 2012
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:01 PM on March 26, 2012
Really? Where? My guess: hanging on the wall of one of those drab, Depression-era rooms, but which one?
It's in the back room of the mission where Keeler takes McCoy, in an oval frame by the door. It's visible in the scene after he awakens, once over his shoulder and once over her shoulder. About 00:45 to 00:47. (And if you must ask me, although I can't screen grab, it looks more like the photo than the print.)
posted by dhartung at 11:32 AM on March 27, 2012
It's in the back room of the mission where Keeler takes McCoy, in an oval frame by the door. It's visible in the scene after he awakens, once over his shoulder and once over her shoulder. About 00:45 to 00:47. (And if you must ask me, although I can't screen grab, it looks more like the photo than the print.)
posted by dhartung at 11:32 AM on March 27, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, it looks like it may have been in a book REAL LIFE: LOUISVILLE IN THE TWENTIES - MICHAEL LESY.
posted by fings at 11:42 AM on March 26, 2012