Plate Number 512. Contortions on the rings

Art Historical Context

Step into the pioneering world of motion capture with *Plate Number 512. Contortions the Rings* by Eadweard Muybridge, created in 1887. This striking collotype print captures a gymnast in mid-performance on the rings, showcasing extreme flexibility and athletic prowess through Muybridge's signature sequential photography. Part of his monumental *Animal Locomotion* series, it freezes a dynamic moment into 12 precise frames across a vast sheet measuring 48.2 × 61 cm, inviting viewers to trace the body's fluid distortions. Muybridge, a British-American photographer, revolutionized visual arts in the late 19th century by using multiple cameras triggered in rapid succession—up to 1/1000th of a second apart—to dissect movement. Funded by Leland Stanford and spurred by debates on animal gait, his work bridged science and art, influencing Eakins, Duchamp, and early filmmakers like Edison. This plate exemplifies his shift to human subjects, blending anatomical precision with aesthetic drama. Printed via collotype, a photomechanical technique prized for its rich tonal range and fidelity, the image (17.65 × 44 cm) was acquired by the Corcoran Gallery in 1887 and now graces the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection. It reminds us how Muybridge's innovations laid the groundwork for cinema, turning the human form into a symphony of motion for generations to ponder.

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...