À pied
18
plain
2022-03-23T01:00:39+00:00
In a world filled with jet planes and electric cars, high-speed trains and often-delayed buses, many of us still do a lot of traveling on foot. And to get from point A to point B, you need the right shoes! These objects highlight the materials and mannerisms of the oldest form of transportation in the world. Strap on your sandals, lift your foot and prepare to set out on a journey.
Unknown European maker
"Nike Tying her Sandal," Relief from Balustrade, Athena Nike Temple, no. 973, Acropolis Museum, Athens
Late 19th century – early 20th century
Platinum print
Gift of Mary Elizabeth Garrett
2007.5.53
The face of Nike, the victory goddess, is lost to damage, but her rippling gown and lifted foot seem to pop off the surface of this print. Resting her weight on her left foot, she bends down and reaches out adjust her sandal.
This slab from the Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis was found in 1835 —just four years before the official invention of photography. Artists have imitated Nike's momentary pose for millennia, and this object relies on a long process of reproduction and translation. Platinum, used in the printing process, lends shimmer and depth to the two-dimensional image, suggesting the weight and presence of the goddess.
Maxfield Parrish (American, 1870–1966)
Sue Lewin, c. 1915
Glass positive
Joint purchase through Paul Cava Fine Art Photographs and the Library Fund, June 2012
On loan from Haverford College, HC12-6772
Posed on two crates in the artist’s studio, the model Sue Lewin leans all the way forward, as though adjusting her right shoe. However, Lewin is barefoot. Clad in tunic and tights, she is posing for a study that Maxfield Parrish would later use in a mural that he painted for Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s Long Island studio. Parrish used glass positives like this one to project images onto the spaces he was going to paint. He could then trace or edit the projections, moving them around and incorporating them into larger paintings. Lewin’s pose recalls a famous carving from a temple on the Athenian Acropolis that shows the goddess Nike adjusting her sandal.
Unknown Kenyan maker
Akala (Tire Sandals), likely 2000 – 2004
Tire rubber and metal
Collected on behalf of Bryn Mawr College Collections by Kirsten Hawkins (Class of 2005)
2005.7.4
Shoes may be functional, but they can also express a person’s personal style and socio-cultural domain. Akala are Kenyan sandals made from recycled materials. While designs from smaller villages are often plain, shoes made and sold in larger communities tend to be more elaborate, with colorful beads, bigger tacks, and thicker treads. The soles of these sandals are made of rubber tire cuttings, and the straps of flexible tire ropes. These repurposed materials, first used as wheels, then as shoes, have helped people move from place to place.
