{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1320727"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1320727/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HX6417/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HX6417/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2015HX6417","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1320727","accessionNumber":"E.483-2015","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Group portrait in front of a temple of Chinese and Western men, China, possibly Peking","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"José María Sert (1874-1945) was a Spanish artist best known for his mural paintings. Born in Barcelona, Sert began his career in his father’s studio, producing tapestry cartoons and other designs. He travelled to Italy to study Renaissance fresco painting and returned to settle in Paris in 1899. Sert received a number of commissions for large-scale mural paintings from Europe and the United States, in both private and public buildings. His most well-known paintings can be found in the Waldorf Astoria and the Rockefeller Centre in New York and the Council Chamber at the United Nations in Geneva. Sert was also a photographer and set designer. Sert’s ambitious compositions led him to theatre design. In 1914, he was selected by Diaghilev as the first non-Russian designer to work for the Ballets Russes. He continued to design sets and costumes for numerous productions until 1940. \n\r\nSert also worked in photography and created elaborate, staged compositions as preparatory studies for his paintings and designs. Through the method of squaring, Sert sketched grids and tiles onto the surface of his photographs in order to convert the scale of the image for his paintings using non-mechanical means. This group portrait diverges from Sert’s photographic studies and takes more of an anthropological approach. It was taken between 1910 -1914 and depicts a group of men outside a temple in China, possibly Peking. The Chinese men are wearing traditional dress and two members of the group are holding cameras. The photograph was taken using a Richard Verascope camera, a compact and portable stereoscopic camera developed in the late 1800s. This print is one half of the stereo pair. \r\n","physicalDescription":"A black and white photograph os a group of men standing in front of a temple. Two of the en are holding cameras.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"José María Sert","id":"AUTH337750"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"x43821"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"photographic paper","id":"AAT14190"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Gelatin silver process","id":"AAT139114"},{"text":"photography","id":"AAT54225"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gelatin silver print","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"},{"text":"Landscapes","id":"THES250800"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2015HX6417"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"X","shelf":"1044","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"China","id":"x29398"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1910-1914","earliest":"1910-01-01","latest":"1914-12-31"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"17.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"17.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by José María Sert, 'Group portrait in front of a temple of Chinese and Western men, China, possibly Peking', gelatin silver print, 1910-1914 ","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"José Maria Sert (1874–1945)\r\nGroup portrait in front of a temple, China\r\nAbout 1910–14\r\n\r\nSert was a Spanish artist best known for his\r\nmural paintings. He often used photographs\r\nas preparatory studies for his paintings, but\r\nthis group portrait seems to diverge from that\r\npurpose. Two of the men hold what appear to be\r\nJumelle-type cameras, an early hand-held design\r\ndeveloped in the 1890s.\r\n\r\nGelatin silver print\r\nGiven by Charles Chadwyck-Healey\r\nMuseum no. E.483-2015","date":{"text":"23/7/2016-5/3/2017","earliest":"2016-07-23","latest":"2017-03-05"}}],"partNumbers":["E.483-2015"],"accessionNumberNum":"483","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2015,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2015-09-01","availableToBook":false}}