The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery

DESCRIPTION

This astonishing set of stereocards from Brian May’s collection reconstructs 14 well-known Victorian works in Tate Britain using real actors and staged scenes. The stereos are contemporary with the paintings, and their existence was hitherto unknown outside the circle of specialist collectors of Victoriana. They were produced for commercial reasons — the advent of a new painting by a great artist was big news, but most people were not able to access and enjoy the new works of art. Entrepreneurial photographers of the day reconstructed the scenes, photographed them, and sold the stereocards for profit.

In addition to their beauty, they shed light on the story of these famous paintings and reveal a great deal about the society of the time. The format shows the painting itself, followed by the stereocard versions of that painting with explanatory text. The artists include Landseer, Maclise, Wallis, Millais, Calderon, Collinson, Frith, Egley, Collins, Leslie, and Haydon; the photographers were the most distinguished of that time. The book accompanies an exhibition of these cards, which will be held at the Tate from October 2014 on. With over 300 photographs and illustrations, this extraordinary volume comes slipcased with a 3-D viewer.

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AUTHOR BIO

Denis Pellerin, dedicated photo historian, was a teacher for over 30 years and has been interested in photography since the age of ten. He was bitten by the stereo bug in the 1980s, has been fascinated by the Diableries for over 25 years, and has written several books and articles on 19th-century stereo photography for various magazines, institutions and museums. He graduated with an MA in Art History at the Sorbonne in 1999 and has since been specializing in French and British Victorian genre stereo views. Brian May, founder, member, songwriter and guitarist with the rock band Queen, and co-creator of the internationally successful rock theatrical, We Will Rock You, is also a Doctor of Astrophysics, a leading campaigner for animal rights, and a lifelong 3-D photography enthusiast. Most recently, he has become a successful publisher, dedicated to sharing his vast collection of Victorian stereo photographs with the world through the books released by The London Stereoscopic Company (a fond recreation of the highly successful company of the same name founded in 1854). Brian currently tours with Queen for much of the year with Adam Lambert as lead vocalist, as well as composing, recording and performing in collaboration with West End star Kerry Ellis, an original luminary of the cast of We Will Rock You. His many other recent projects include working on 3-D 360-degree virtual reality movies, and the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, the award-winning biopic of Freddie Mercury. Brian lives in London with his wife, his partner for over thirty years, actress Anita Dobson.