Untitled (portrait of a man with glasses and mustache set into flower design)

1970s

Untitled (portrait of a man with glasses and mustache set into flower design), 1970s. India, 20th century. Gelatin silver print, photomontage on black mount; image: 14.5 x 11.7 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.); paper: 14.5 x 11.7 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.); mounted: 16.3 x 13.6 cm (6 7/16 x 5 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 2018.16 This Hindu gentleman’s wedding portrait recalls the roundels of flowers with the bust or face of a nature divinity in the center, often found on the railings or fences separating sacred from mundane space. Those auspicious divinities personify the life-giving forces of nature. Here the groom becomes a personification of wealth and abundance, his clothing updated to accord with the fashions of the day.