{"id":29745,"date":"2021-09-11T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-09-11T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=29745"},"modified":"2021-09-10T20:46:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T01:46:07","slug":"how-a-photo-in-apsus-art-collection-connects-with-the-discovery-of-famed-french-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2021\/09\/11\/how-a-photo-in-apsus-art-collection-connects-with-the-discovery-of-famed-french-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"How a photo in APSU\u2019s Art Collection connects with the discovery of famed French Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Earlier this summer, the director of the Austin Peay State University (APSU) The New Gallery and his summer research fellow discovered a striking photo of a red-haired girl with a face splashed with freckles.<\/p>\n

The photo\u2019s labeling indicated that the image had been captured by a well-known French photographer, Michel Thersiquel, in 1970 and that famous photographic printer Philippe Salaun printed the photo 11 years later.<\/p>\n

\"Freckled<\/a>

Freckled Girl. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some information about the artist, so we started googling him,\u201d said gallery Director Michael Dickins. \u201cAnd we realized that he had passed away recently and that there is a society that is working on preserving his work.\u201d Dickins and the summer research fellow, Katie Boyer, found a website dedicated to Thersiquel\u2019s work, including a portrait of a girl who resembled the freckled girl in the photo they had.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we sent an email,\u201d Dickins said.<\/p>\n

Within days, Dickins and Boyer had a compelling story to share, one that included an up-and-coming 26-year-old French photographer who from his shop in Pont-Aven, France, had the perfect light in 1970 to capture the freckled faces of C\u00e9cile and her two sisters, B\u00e9atrice and Silvie.<\/p>\n

You can see C\u00e9cile\u2019s freckled brilliance through September 17th at The New Gallery\u2019s \u201cRecent Acquisitions\u201d exhibit. The exhibition features 125 new pieces added to Austin Peay\u2019s art collection during the past five years, including works \u2013 such as Thersiquel\u2019s photo of C\u00e9cile \u2013 hidden for years in flat boxes and recently discovered.<\/p>\n

Each piece in the collection is a vessel for a story as compelling as C\u00e9cile\u2019s freckled face.<\/p>\n

\u2018He looked for beauty in human imperfections\u2019<\/h3>\n
\"Katie<\/a>

Katie Boyer and Michael Dickins with the photo. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Dickins and Boyer\u2019s Google search found an email address for Association des Les Amis de Michel Thersiquel<\/a>, and Dickins composed a message.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research has led us to you and this website, and wanted to reach out to find more information on the photograph,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe image is titled \u2018Portrait \u2013 Pont-Aven 1970\u2019 and is signed en verso by Michel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within hours, Christhine le Portal, the president of Les Amis de Thersi, replied, asking for images of the photograph and labels. After receiving the images, le Portal again responded.<\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis photo was indeed taken by Michel Thersiquel in the small town of Pont-Aven (Brittany, France) in 1970,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHe moved there at the age of 22, in 1966. Above his shop, his studio had a north-facing glass roof which allowed him to have the perfect light for his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the son of a village photographer,\u201d le Portal continued. \u201cIn his youth, he had spent a lot of time in his father\u2019s laboratory, correcting the imperfections of faces, a practice he hated. When he became a photographer himself, he went against this practice and looked for beauty in human imperfections. He photographed many freckled faces.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those faces was C\u00e9cile\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Thersiquel photographed C\u00e9cile, her mother, and her sisters<\/a>, and placed the portraits in his store window. A Parisian journalist saw the photos and helped to propel Thersiquel\u2019s popularity in Paris.<\/p>\n

APSU\u2019s art collection: \u2018Baffled by the discoveries\u2019<\/h3>\n
\"Michel<\/a>

Michel Thersiquel’s signature. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

While working with the Austin Peay State University\u2019s art collection this summer, Boyer and Dickins also discovered 18 photos<\/a> that iconic fashion, celebrity, and art photographer Albert Watson<\/a> took at the Calgary Stampede rodeo in 1978. You can see some of the photos in Austin Peay\u2019s collection at the end of the 1970s collection on Watson’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These pieces were buried deep into stacks of flat files, and none of the works were accessioned into the University\u2019s collection, but now they are.<\/p>\n

Dickins credits the Hazel Smith Summer Research Fellowship \u2013 which is supported by a recent endowment from Mark and Martha Em Raby<\/a> and a matching amount from Austin Peay\u2019s Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts \u2013 for allowing Boyer to help him with the collection this summer.<\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been working with the collection for seven years now, and I\u2019m still baffled by the discoveries it provides us,\u201d Dickins said. \u201cThis fellowship has allowed for the extra personnel and focus that is often not afforded to us during the busy-ness of the semester.\u201d<\/p>\n

See \u2018Recent Acquisitions\u2019<\/h3>\n

The New Gallery is open 9:00am-4:00pm Monday-Friday, but if you\u2019d like to see it from home, you can visit the 360-degree virtual walk-through<\/a> at The New Gallery\u2019s webpage, www.apsu.edu\/art-design\/thenewgallery<\/a>, where you can also find information about upcoming exhibits.<\/p>\n

For more information on this exhibition, which is free and open to the public, contact Dickins at dickinsm@apsu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information about studying art and design at Austin Peay State University, visit www.apsu.edu\/art-design<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Endowments<\/h3>\n

Endowments are permanently restricted funds managed by the Austin Peay State University Foundation. The amount of each scholarship award may vary and will be determined based upon the value of the endowment and the Foundation spending plan.<\/p>\n

To support APSU fundraising initiatives, contact the Office of University Advancement at 931.221.7127.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – Earlier this summer, the director of the Austin Peay State University (APSU) The New Gallery and his summer research fellow discovered a striking photo of a red-haired girl with a face splashed with freckles. The photo\u2019s labeling indicated that the image had been captured by a well-known French photographer, Michel Thersiquel, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[23,31030,262,512,825,32510,23700],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-7JL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29745"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29750,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745\/revisions\/29750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}