Currently not on view
The Two Ways of Life,
1857
Oscar Gustave Rejlander, British, born Sweden, 1813–1875
x1993-22
Seeking to elevate photography to the status of fine art, Rejlander created The Two Ways of Life in imitation of traditional history painting. His photograph illustrates the protagonist’s allegorical choice between vice and virtue, with lust, gambling, and idleness represented on the left side and righteous prayer, marriage, and charity on the right. After photographing each figure and background separately, Rejlander combined more than thirty negatives to create this complex scene. Although nineteenth-century viewers were accustomed to seeing nudes in paintings and in sculpture, the presumed verisimilitude of Rejlander’s nudes made the work controversial. His image sparked intense debate regarding the use of nudity in photography and the merits of Pictorialism’s painterly effects in comparison with more ostensibly factual photography. Despite the controversy, Queen Victoria purchased the work as a gift for Prince Albert when it was shown in the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857.
Information
Title
The Two Ways of Life
Dates
1857
Maker
Medium
Albumen print
Dimensions
10.5 x 19.7 cm. (4 1/8 x 7 3/4 in.)
mount: 22.4 x 19 cm. (8 13/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, anonymous gift
Object Number
x1993-22
Place Made
Europe, England, Wolverhampton
Inscription
Inscribed in ink on page, upper right corner: 54
Culture
Techniques
- Edgar Yoxall Jones, Father of Art Photography: O.G. Rejlander, 1813-1875 (Greenwich: New York Graphic Society, 1973).
- Peter C. Bunnell, The Photography of O.G. Rejlander: Two Selections (New York: Arno Press, 1979).
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1993", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 53, no. 1 (1994): p. 46-95., p. 83; p. 81 (illus.)
