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Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

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Christian Boltanski

Padre Mariano

1994

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Focusing on themes of historical consciousness, Christian Boltanski stresses the need for memory in a contemporary society preoccupied with the present. In his work he appropriates and assembles found materials that evoke emotional connections for a broad range of viewers, whose associations with the familiar objects inform their experience with the artwork. In Padre Mariano, a simple wooden case holds a clear glass panel printed with a slightly blurred photograph of a woman; the space behind the imprinted panel is packed with stuffed linen cloths. An everyday desk lamp highlights the object, the cord dangling conspicuously down the center. Like many of Boltanski's works, Padre Mariano resembles a solemn, glowing altarpiece or memorial. Rather than commemorate a specific individual, though, the artist re-photographs and blurs into anonymity images found in archives, reconfiguring them into mementos representing human loss and trauma as a collective condition. Responding to the oppression and terror experienced in France during World War II, this work also alludes to the murder of innocent victims, with the bright spotlight implying interrogation and torture. In addition, the mysterious and obscure nature of the work suggests the collective irretrievability of such traumatic memories, which take on different forms for each individual. [Permanent collection label, 2011]

  • Artist Christian Boltanski (French, 1944–2021)
  • Title Padre Mariano
  • Date 1994
  • Medium Vitrine, photograph, white linen, and lamp
  • Dimensions unframed | 47 1/4 x 23 5/8 x 4 5/8 in.
  • Credit line University purchase, Charles H. Yalem Art Fund, 2000
  • Object number WU 2000.0003

Tragic Depictions: Negative Emotions in the Visual Arts
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/17/2024 - 07/22/2024 Teaching Gallery

Object Lessons
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/05/2003 - 09/28/2003

Made in France: Art from 1945 to the Present
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/17/2003 - 04/20/2003

Christian Boltanski
Marian Goodman Gallery (New York, New York), 02/10/1995 - 03/11/1995

Until June 23, 2000
[with Marian Goodman Gallery (1977–), New York]

June 23, 2000–
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, purchase from the above, Charles H. Yalem Art Fund

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.

Related Content

go to Christian Boltanski, Padre Mariano, 1994 page
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Essays

Christian Boltanski, Padre Mariano, 1994

Grade: High, University
go to Made in France: Art from 1945 to the Present page
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Exhibitions

Made in France: Art from 1945 to the Present

January 17, 2003–April 20, 2003
go to Christian Boltanski page
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Exhibitions

Christian Boltanski

February 10, 1995–March 11, 1995
go to Object Lessons page
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Exhibitions

Object Lessons

September 05, 2003–September 28, 2003
go to Tragic Depictions: Negative Emotions in the Visual Arts page
1998_18.jpg
Exhibitions

Tragic Depictions: Negative Emotions in the Visual Arts

January 17, 2024–July 22, 2024

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