Plate Number 372. Acrobat, horizontal "press up"

Art Historical Context

Step into the groundbreaking world of motion photography with *Plate Number 372. Acrobat, horizontalpress up"* by Eadweard Muy, created in 1887. This collotype print, part of Muybridge's monumental *Animal Locomotion*, captures an acrobat mid-performance in a dynamic sequence of poses. Measuring 21.2 × 34.15 cm in its image area on a larger 47.75 × 60.3 cm sheet, it exemplifies Muybridge's obsessive quest to dissect human movement, using a battery of up to 24 cameras triggered by the subject's motion. Muybridge, a British-born innovator often called the "father of the motion picture," employed electro-mechanical shutters to freeze split-second actions previously invisible to the naked eye. Collotype, a photomechanical printing technique prized for its rich tonal range and fidelity, allowed these studies to be widely reproduced and studied. This plate highlights an acrobat's strength in a horizontal press-up, blending athleticism with scientific precision. Acquired by the Corcoran Gallery in 1887 and now in the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, the work underscores photography's shift from static portraiture to scientific tool. Muybridge's sequences influenced artists like Marcel Duchamp and filmmakers, proving that art could illuminate the mechanics of life itself. A true pioneer’s snapshot of human potential!

About the Artist

Eadweard Muybridge · 1830–1904

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was an English-American photographer who revolutionized the understanding of motion through his pioneering chronophotographic studies. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames, England, he emigrated to America and became famous first for his dramatic landscape photographs of Yosemite Valley, then for his groundbreaking motion studies that proved horses li...