Figure 45: Contraction électrique forte des triangulaires des lèvres et des sourciliers: douleur et déspoir
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne) (French, 1806–1875)
Adrien Tournachon (French, 1825–1903)
c. 1856, printed 1862
- Medium
- Albumen print from glass plate negative
- Classification
- Photograph
- Dimensions
- Image: 23.5 x 17.9 cm (9 1/4 x 7 1/16 in.); Oval opening: 16.2 x 11.9 cm (6 3/8 x 4 11/16 in.); Mounted: 41.2 x 27.4 cm (16 1/4 x 10 13/16 in.)
- Culture
- France, 19th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Photography
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Duchenne embarked on the first scientific, systematic exploration of the physiology of human facial expression and hoped, through photographs of his experiments, to teach artists how to portray those emotions. The experiments were performed by applying electrical stimulation to a single muscle on one side of the face, so that the viewer could clearly see the impact of the muscular contraction.
