ID: 700008376 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008376	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1 2

The Reserve of Dead Swiss (sculpture (visual works); Christian Boltanski (French sculptor, photographer, and conc...; 1990; Tate Modern ; T06605)

Note: The Reserve of Dead Swiss is an installation featuring forty-two photographic portraits depicting men, women and children of varying ages. The photographs were appropriated by the artist from obituaries published in Le Nouvelliste du Valais, a provincial Swiss newspaper. Each photograph is framed, placed on a shelf and positioned so that it leans against the wall behind it. Electric lamps are clipped to the top edge of each frame and bent down to direct their light onto the faces of those portrayed. The photographs are arranged at regular intervals on three rows of shelving, and each row is lined with bunched lengths of light-coloured fabric, some of which is patterned or adorned with embroidery. The simple shelving structures consist of a number of wooden units that are installed on a single wall or wrapped around corners of the space, as determined by the constraints of the gallery environment. The electrical wiring for the spotlights hangs slackly from each clip down onto the floor, trailing over the surface of the image it is connected to as well as over those on lower rows. The work is intended to be installed without additional gallery lighting.

Titles:

The Reserve of Dead Swiss (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

La Réserve des Suisses morts (C,U,OR,French-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

sculpture (visual works) [300047090] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

mixed classification (preferred)

Creation Date: 1990

Creator Display:

Christian Boltanski (French sculptor, photographer, and conceptual artist, born 1944) [preferred,VP]

sculptor Boltanski, Christian (French sculptor, photographer, and conceptual artist, 1944-2021) [500083011]

Locations:

Current: Term Not Found (ULAN Candidate) (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: T06605

Credit Line: Presented by the Fondation Cartier 1992

Display Materials: 42 photographs on paper, 42 electric lamps, fabric and wood

	paper (fiber product) [300014109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>)

	cloth [300162391]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>, textile materials, <textile materials by form>)

	wood (plant material) [300011914]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, plant material, <wood and wood by product>)

	lamps (lighting devices) [300037592]
	.......(Objects Facet, Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name), Furnishings (hierarchy name), furnishings (works), <furnishings by form or function>, lighting devices, <lighting devices by form>)

	photographs [300046300]
	.......(Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Dimensions: Displayed: 2834 x 4725 x 270 mm; displayed: 2834 x 6240 x 270 mm

Cultures:

Swiss (preferred)

General Subject:

installation (preferred,isness)

nonrepresentational art

Specific Subjects:

	portraits [300015637]
	.....(Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by subject type>) (AAT)

	death [300151836]
	.....(Activities Facet, Events (hierarchy name), events (activities), personal life events) (AAT)

Copyright: © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2018

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: carvings and sculptures

Sources and Contributors:
The Reserve of Dead Swiss	........ [VP]
	........ Tate Gallery [online] (1999-) accessed 8 April 2014
La Réserve des Suisses morts	........ [VP]
	........ Tate Gallery [online] (1999-) accessed 8 April 2014

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... Tate Gallery [online] (1999-) accessed 8 April 2014, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boltanski-the-reserve-of-dead-swiss-t06605

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Tate Gallery [online] (1999-) accessed 25 February 2018, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boltanski-the-reserve-of-dead-swiss-t06605