Le Baiser du Trottoir (Kiss on the Sidewalk), Robert Doisneau

Artwork Overview

Robert Doisneau, Le Baiser du Trottoir (Kiss on the Sidewalk)
Robert Doisneau, Le Baiser du Trottoir (Kiss on the Sidewalk)
Robert Doisneau
Le Baiser du Trottoir (Kiss on the Sidewalk)
1950
Robert Doisneau
1912–1994
Le Baiser du Trottoir (Kiss on the Sidewalk), 1950
Portfolio/Series title: Doisneau Portfolio
Where object was made: France
Material/technique: gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 24.3 x 30.5 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 9/16 x 12 1/2 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 16 x 20 in
Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick M. Myers
Accession number: 1984.0181
Not on display
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Label texts

Archive Label: This young couple kisses in an embrace so intense that they seem totally unaware that they are in a public space and surrounded by passers-by. Yet, recent litigation has revealed that the picture was posed. A woman who claims to have been paid to model for the photograph has requested a royalty payment for the countless times the image has been reproduced. That the scene was staged and not found suggests that we read the picture not as a document of actual human relations or emotions but as an artistic evocation of ideas held by Doisneau about emotions.