{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum purchase, anonymous gift","caption":"Oscar Gustave Rejlander (British, born Sweden, 1813–1875), The Two Ways of Life, 1857. Albumen print; 10.5 x 19.7 cm. Museum purchase, anonymous gift (x1993-22)","cultureterms":[{"id":2031586,"culture":"British"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2055672,"term":"nudes","aatid":300189568,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2053728,"term":"black-and-white photographs","aatid":300128347,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2122175,"term":"allegories","aatid":300202507,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2053200,"term":"photographs","aatid":300046300,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2054071,"term":"composite photographs","aatid":300134769,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055723,"term":"portraits","aatid":300015637,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088280,"term":"women","aatid":300025943,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2053478,"term":"albumen prints","aatid":300127121,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2031586,"term":"British","aatid":300111159,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2156299,"term":"mounting","aatid":300081370,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2153946,"term":"albumen process","aatid":300133274,"termtype":"Techniques"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Europe, England, Wolverhampton","code":"Place made","continent":"Europe","subcontinent":null,"country":"England","region":null,"state":null,"city":"Wolverhampton","county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/3333222/wolverhampton.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"mount","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"22.40"},{"element":"mount","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"19.00"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"10.50"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"19.70"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1993-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":3205,"displayname":"Oscar Gustave Rejlander","displaydate":"British, born Sweden, 1813–1875","datebegin":1813,"dateend":1875,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Oscar Gustave Rejlander, British, born Sweden, 1813–1875","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1857,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Photographs","packages":[{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":183099,"name":"Photography-19thcentury_01"},{"packageid":38973,"name":"Web_PhotoRotation_2015"},{"packageid":206417,"name":"image_descriptions_top250"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2053478,"classification":"albumen prints"},{"id":2053728,"classification":"black-and-white photographs"},{"id":2053200,"classification":"photographs"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/x1993-22"],"displaytitle":"The Two Ways of Life","displayculture":null,"displaymaker":"Oscar Gustave Rejlander, British, born Sweden, 1813–1875","captionhtml":"Oscar Gustave Rejlander (British, born Sweden, 1813–1875), <i>The Two Ways of Life</i>, 1857. Albumen print; 10.5 x 19.7 cm. Museum purchase, anonymous gift (x1993-22)","displaydate":"1857","medium":"Albumen print","media":[{"id":88686,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV14782","isprimary":0,"rank":2,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":126231,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/x1993-22","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM photo"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1993\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 53, no.&nbsp;1 (1994): p. 46-95.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1993\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 53, no.&nbsp;1 (1994): p. 46-95., p. 70, p. 75","date":1994,"id":3065,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774684"},{"boilertext":"Edgar Yoxall Jones, <EM>Father of Art Photography: O.G. Rejlander, 1813-1875</EM> (Greenwich: New York Graphic Society, 1973).","citation":"Edgar Yoxall Jones, <EM>Father of Art Photography: O.G. Rejlander, 1813-1875</EM> (Greenwich: New York Graphic Society, 1973).","date":1973,"id":5706,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/897685"},{"boilertext":"Peter C. Bunnell, <EM>The Photography of O.G. Rejlander: Two Selections </EM>(New York: Arno Press, 1979).","citation":"Peter C. Bunnell, <EM>The Photography of O.G. Rejlander: Two Selections </EM>(New York: Arno Press, 1979).","date":1979,"id":5722,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/4642251"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"Photography","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199326,"term":"Photography","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1850-1900","dateend":1857,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"The Two Ways of Life","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"x1993-22","inscribed":"Inscribed in ink on page, upper right corner: 54","texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"\r\nSeeking to elevate photography to the status of fine art, Rejlander created <I>The Two Ways of Life</I> in imitation of traditional history painting. His photograph illustrates the protagonist’s allegorical choice between vice and virtue, with lust, gambling, and idleness represented on the left side and righteous prayer, marriage, and charity on the right. After photographing each figure and background separately, Rejlander combined more than thirty negatives to create this complex scene. Although nineteenth-century viewers were accustomed to seeing nudes in paintings and in sculpture, the presumed verisimilitude of Rejlander’s nudes made the work controversial. His image sparked intense debate regarding the use of nudity in photography and the merits of Pictorialism’s painterly effects in comparison with more ostensibly factual photography. Despite the controversy, Queen Victoria purchased the work as a gift for Prince Albert when it was shown in the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857.</P></SPAN>","remarks":"Franz photo rotation"}],"datebegin":1857,"sortnumber":"1993   22x","published_date":"2026-03-05 09:02:35.100887","objectid":18132,"dimensions":"10.5 x 19.7 cm. (4 1/8 x 7 3/4 in.)\r\nmount: 22.4 x 19 cm. (8 13/16 x 7 1/2 in.)","on_view":false}