Erich Hartmann
, German/American, 1922-1999
Title
Dublin, 1964 (Shepherd and Sheep)Date1964
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions
16.5 x 24.5 cm
Signedon verso: Ruth Hartmann (The Artist's wife)
Credit LinePurchased, 2018
Object numberNGI.2018.112
DescriptionErich Hartmann visited Dublin for the first time in 1964. He had already explored the city extensively in his imagination, ever since he first read James Joyce’s 'Ulysses'. But now he came in reality, and he brought his cameras. Eager to understand the strange mix that spawned great artistry but repelled the artist, he wandered the city searching out every place and incident of Joyce’s fictional June day sixty years before. This search resulted in more than an evocation of a novel. It is a record of Erich Hartmann’s own journey of discovery through Dublin, captured in over 3,000 images. Drenched in sunlight a shepherd herds his sheep toward the foreground of the photograph. A farm truck is parked along the left-hand side of the photograph with its back turned down for the sheep to climb onto it perhaps or to unload other animals and equipment. A few steps behind the shepherd is a man dressed in a tie an overcoat. He watches the sheep as the shepherd gathers them together. A series of roofs and chimneys line the background of the work with evidence of a farm on the right-hand side of the photograph. This is a rare rural shot of Dublin by Erich Hartmann whose primary focus was on the people and landmarks of Dublin’s city centre and costal environs.
Inscriptionon verso (in pencil): 64-30 38-20
on verso: 12 [written and circled three times - likely number 12 in an edition of 30]
on verso, lower left: Irlande
on verso (wet stamp): 1965 Magnum Photo, New York
on verso (stamp): Tirage Archive Magnum Photo, Paris
on verso (stamp): Copyright Erich Hartmann / Magnum Photo
ProvenanceErich and Ruth Hartmann, 1964-2007; Clair by Kahn Gallery, 2007; purchased, Clair by Kahn Gallery, Zurich, 2018