(Below information originally reported in FAQ 45)
A signed/original Man Ray portrait photograph of Dr. George Hodel, taken more than sixty-years ago, has recently been identified. (May 2007)
The Hodel photograph, a Gelatin silver print measuring 35.4cm x 27.3 cm, a gift from Susan and Neal Yanofsky, was originally donated to the prestigious museum in 2001.
At the time it was gifted to Harvard, the identity of George Hodel was either withheld or unknown, and the museum curators catalogued the Man Ray rare silver print simply as:
“Unidentified (portrait of man in front of Chinese wall Hanging)”
Since last month’s identification of the portrait, Fogg Art Museum curators have now renamed the photograph:
Dr. George Hill Hodel (1907-1999)
(See above Fogg Art Museum catalogue photograph)
I contacted the art museum in an effort to obtain additional information on the provenance (ownership history) of my father’s photograph and received the following information in response:
Our print originated on the West Coast in an (unknown) private collection. The transfer to our donor was mediated by a broker. It came to the Fogg in 2001, but I don’t know when it left the private collection, although presumably around the same time. The signature in the lower left hand corner is in black ink. There are no other inscriptions.
I will post additional information on this fascinating discovery when it becomes known and available.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY –THE FOGG ART MUSEUM
The Fogg Art Museum, which opened to the public in 1895, is Harvard’s oldest art museum. Around its Italian Renaissance courtyard, based on a sixteenth-century façade in Montepulciano, Italy, are galleries illustrating the history of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, with particular strengths in Italian early Renaissance, British pre-Raphaelite, and nineteenth-century French art.
The Wertheim Collection, housed on the second floor of the Fogg, is one of America’s finest collections of Impressionist and post-Impressionist work, and contains many famous masterworks. The Boston area’s most important collection of Picasso’s work is also found at the Fogg, as well as outstanding collections of photographs, prints, and drawings.
Any reader fluent in Chinese that can translate below it would be much appreciated:
Email translation to me at: steve@stevehodel.com
Subscribe
Steve, Do you know what the wall hanging says in Chinese? Is there a way to find out? My husband says your father is wearing an insulated field jacket. It’s sort of like an insulated trench coat, but shorter – very high quality. He says it’s probably one of the best coats that was ever issued during that time period.
Best wishes!
The coat is UNRRA issue with the epaulets seen on the shoulders. Don’t know about the Chienese translation?
Hi Mr.Hodel,
Do you still need a translation of this? If not, have you already written about what it says or means? I dont know myself, but I may know someone who could possibly translate it (if it is indeed Chinese).
thanks,
Daniel
Hi Daniel:
No, haven’t received a translation yet. If he can, sure go for it.
Thanks, Steve
Hi Steve,
The first big character on top “軍(jun)” means “military” and the one below “汗(han)” means “sweat”. But they can also mean something else when put together with other words.
The first two smaller words “中原(zhong yuan)” from the top means Central China. But then the rest except the last word looks like an English translated name to me. The last word on the bottom left corner “題(ti)” means “signed”.In our culture, we like to have wall hanging with phrases in big characters, then on the side the author’s name in smaller print. Here’s an example of a typical Chinese wall hanging:
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfn05kp09R1qent43.jpg
Do you have the full picture of Chinese wall hanging? It seems to me that there are more words on it and right now it’s not making much sense because the picture only captured part of it. It will be great if you could find the full picture of it and I wouldn’t mind translating them for you!
Fiona: That is interesting in light of a recent email exchange I had with a young woman who knew my father and had visited him at the Sowden/Franklin House circa 1946 or 1947. In conversation she asked me if I remembered the picture of my father with the Chinese writing on it? It was a large picture of George Hodel sitting on a horse. I told her I didn’t. She went on to say that George asked her if she could read Chinese? She laughed and told him, “No.” He then said, “Let me translate this writing for you. It say’s, “The great general sitting on his horse sweating.” I suspect the two are related. I will blog on this in the near future. But, sounds similar to your tentative translation. I don’t have the picture, but will do some research if I can. Thanks much. Steve
Oh, then I think it was very likely that she was referring to the wall hanging in that picture because “軍(jun)” can mean ‘military’ and also ‘general’ or ‘soldier’. Chinese is a very different language from English because in Chinese, each character can be combined with another word in order to create a different meaning. That was the reason why I asked you in my previous comment if you had the full picture of the wall-hanging. But I am glad that had helped you a bit! Looking forward to your blog about the research!
Best wishes!!