Curtis Moffat collection highlights

Curtis Moffat, 'Snapshot'

Curtis Moffat
'Snapshot'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.987-2007

Many of Moffat's studies also show an eye for the quirky, witty and Surreal: a woman hanging from a locomotive, a man conversing with a mannequin and an outdoor table setting with an apparently severed head as its centrepiece.

Curtis Moffat, 'Snapshot'

Curtis Moffat
'Snapshot'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1271-2007

Moffat's snaps of what appear to be friends and family engaged in outdoor leisure and sporting pursuits reflect the prevalent 'healthy body culture' of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Curtis Moffat, 'Cecil Beaton'

Curtis Moffat
'Cecil Beaton'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1557-2007

Moffat photographed Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) often and engagingly. Like Moffat, Beaton was a society photographer and personality intimately connected with the 'bright young things' of the 1920s, but he later achieved much greater fame and became photographer to the royal family. Beaton would later recollect Moffat as:

A gentle, quiet, easy-going man with velvet eyes and enormous charm, Curtis Moffat was the most Europeanised of Americans. He seemed to be only 'at home' in the quietness of his book-filled rooms. But appearances are deceptive; in fact he was the centre of enormous creative activity. Not only did Curtis Moffat run an avant-garde picture gallery, but he was also a talented painter himself, and he filled the nobly appointed rooms of a huge house, 4 Fitzroy Square, with his collections of Chinese objects and African sculpture.

Curtis Moffat, 'Abstract Composition'

Curtis Moffat
'Abstract Composition'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.880-2003

To make this striking image of a dragonfly, Moffat placed the specimen in the photographic enlarger head (in place of a negative) and projected the image onto photographic paper. 

Curtis Moffat, 'Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell'

Curtis Moffat
'Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1560-2007

In his London portrait studio, Moffat posed the literary brothers Sitwell as a pair of doubles, seated back-to-back and side-by-side.

Curtis Moffat, 'Nude'

Curtis Moffat
'Nude'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1305-2007

In contrast to the dramatically lit, formal nudes Moffat made in his studio, the nude studies he made outdoors were more spontaneous and lighthearted.

Curtis Moffat, 'Still life'

Curtis Moffat
'Still life'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.997-2007

Moffat's facility in creating balanced, interesting compositions and in orchestrating light and shade is evident not only in his studio work, but also in the photographs he was constantly making of the people and things around him. These images record the textures of stone, water and plants, as well as modern motifs such as an aeroplane or somewhat mysterious arrangements of unrelated objects.

Curtis Moffat, 'Still life'

Curtis Moffat
'Still life'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1001-2007

Moffat's facility in creating balanced, interesting compositions and in orchestrating light and shade is evident not only in his studio work, but also in the photographs he was constantly making of the people and things around him. These images record the textures of stone, water and plants, as well as modern motifs such as an aeroplane or somewhat mysterious arrangements of unrelated objects.

Curtis Moffat, 'Nude

Curtis Moffat
'Nude'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1315-2007

This semi-abstract view of the back of a female nude is reminiscent of the fragmentation of the human form employed by many Surrealist photographers, including Man Ray, with whom Moffat collaborated early in his career.

Curtis Moffat, 'Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell'

Curtis Moffat
'Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell '
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1561-2007

In his London portrait studio, Moffat posed the literary brothers Sitwell as a pair of doubles, seated back-to-back and side-by-side.

Curtis Moffat, 'Nudes with African masks'

Curtis Moffat
'Nudes with African masks'
About 1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1342-2007

Moffat’s numerous nude studies include a series of female models posed with African masks.  Although he may have been inspired by Man Ray’s celebrated photograph Noir et Blanche (1926), the interest in African sculpture—later a motif in Moffat’s interior design showrooms at Fitzroy Square—was also the latest avant-garde trend of this period. In addition to the formalist nude studies he made in the strong, artificial light of the studio, Moffat also photographed nudes outdoors, often in more playful poses.

Curtis Moffat, 'Snapshot'

Curtis Moffat
'Snapshot'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1010-2007

Moffat's facility in creating balanced, interesting compositions and in orchestrating light and shade is evident not only in his studio work, but also in the photographs he was constantly making of the people and things around him. These images record the textures of stone, water and plants, as well as modern motifs such as an aeroplane or somewhat mysterious arrangements of unrelated objects.

Curtis Moffat, 'Tallulah Bankhead'

Curtis Moffat
'Tallulah Bankhead'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1579-2007

One of the many glamorous sitters who came to Moffat's portrait studio was Tallulah Bankhead (1902-68), an American actress and silent film star who made a successful transition to the 'talkies' and became well known on TV and radio. A notorious flirt and drinker, she famously quipped, 'I'm as pure as the driven slush'.

Curtis Moffat, 'Snapshot' about 1925-1930. Museum no. E.1219-2007

Curtis Moffat
'Snapshot'
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1219-2007

Many of Moffat's studies also show an eye for the quirky, witty and Surreal: a woman hanging from a locomotive, a man conversing with a mannequin and an outdoor table setting with an apparently severed head as its centrepiece.

Curtis Moffat, 'Lady Diana Cooper'

Curtis Moffat
'Lady Diana Cooper' (Viscountess Norwich)
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1553-2007

Moffat photographed actress, writer and socialite Diana Cooper dressed as some of the characters she played in her stage and film roles.

Curtis Moffat, 'Nancy Cunard'

Curtis Moffat
'Nancy Cunard'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no.  E.1563-2007

Some of Moffat's best portraits were of Nancy Cunard (1896-1965), a prolific English writer, editor, publisher, political activist, anarchist and poet. She was associated with the Dada and Modernist movements in Paris during the early 1920s when she and Moffat became friends and lovers.  In this portrait she wears a coat designed by the avant-garde artist Sonia Delaunay.

Curtis Moffat, 'Nancy Cunard'

Curtis Moffat
'Nancy Cunard'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no.  E.1565-2007

Some of Moffat's best portraits were of Nancy Cunard (1896-1965), a prolific English writer, editor, publisher, political activist, anarchist and poet. She was associated with the Dada and Modernist movements in Paris during the early 1920s when she and Moffat became friends and lovers.  Moffat photographed her in a series of inventive poses wearing this extravagant feathered headdress.

Curtis Moffat, 'Hoffman and Greville'

Curtis Moffat
'Hoffman and Greville'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1572-2007

A group of images of a pair of acrobatic dancers of the Jazz Age is listed under Moffat's file index under 'Hoffman and Greville.' The older and the younger woman appear both separately and together in a series that seems to have been made at one session. Little is currently known about the dancers, but the images capture the modern energy and glamour of the stage during the 'roaring 'twenties'.

Curtis Moffat, 'Lady Diana Cooper'

Curtis Moffat
'Lady Diana Cooper' (Viscountess Norwich)
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1554-2007

Examples of Moffat's dramatically framed portraits can be seen in the background of this portrait of Lady Diana Cooper.

Curtis Moffat, 'Hoffman'

Curtis Moffat
'Hoffman'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1571-2007

A group of images of a pair of acrobatic dancers of the Jazz Age is listed under Moffat's file index under 'Hoffman and Greville.' The older and the younger woman appear both separately and together in a series that seems to have been made at one session. Little is currently known about the dancers, but the images capture the modern energy and glamour of the stage during the 'roaring 'twenties'.

Curtis Moffat, 'Abstract Composition'

Curtis Moffat
'Abstract Composition'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.2557-2007

Moffat's clear sense of balance in both tone and composition makes for satisfyingly bold, abstract and semi-abstract compositions with an emphasis upon pattern.

Curtis Moffat, 'Abstract Composition

Curtis Moffat
'Abstract Composition'
Photogram
About 1925
Museum no. E.2559-2007

Moffat made camera-less photograms by placing objects directly onto photographic paper, which he then briefly exposed to light.  He learned the technique from Man Ray, who called his photograms 'Rayographs'.

Curtis Moffat, 'Abstract Composition

Curtis Moffat
'Abstract Composition'
Photogram
About 1925
Museum no. E.2558-2007

Moffat made camera-less photograms by placing objects directly onto photographic paper, which he then briefly exposed to light.  He learned the technique from Many Ray, who called his photograms 'Rayographs'.

Curtis Moffat, 'Tallulah Bankhead'

Curtis Moffat
'Tallulah Bankhead'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1577-2007

One of the many glamorous sitters who came to Moffat's portrait studio was Tallulah Bankhead (1902-68), an American actress and silent film star who made a successful transition to the 'talkies' and became well known on TV and radio. A notorious flirt and drinker, she famously quipped, 'I'm as pure as the driven slush'.

Curtis Moffat, 'Cecil Beaton'

Curtis Moffat
'Cecil Beaton'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1556-2007

Society portraitist Cecil Beaton would later cite Moffat as an early influence on his photographic style.

Curtis Moffat, Snapshot

Curtis Moffat
Snapshot
About 1925-1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1044-2007

Moffat's snaps of what appear to be friends and family engaged in outdoor leisure and sporting pursuits reflect the prevalent 'healthy body culture' of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Curtis Moffat, 'Daphne Du Maurier'

Curtis Moffat
'Daphne Du Maurier'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1558-2007

The writer Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) sat for Moffat early in her career.

Curtis Moffat, 'Staircase

Curtis Moffat
'Staircase, Home of Coco Chanel, Paris'
About 1925-30
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E. 838-2007

Coco Chanel was one of Moffat's many fashionable and creative acquaintances. This contact print by Moffat shows the staircase in the designer's Paris home.

Curtis Moffat, Lady Diana Cooper (Viscountess Norwich)' about 1925. Museum no. E.1550-2007

Curtis Moffat
'Lady Diana Cooper (Viscountess Norwich)'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1550-2007

Moffat photographed actress, writer and socialite Diana Cooper dressed as some of the characters she played in her stage and film roles.

Curtis Moffat, 'Ms Greville'

Curtis Moffat
'Ms Greville'
About  1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.1590-2007

The glamorous portraits Moffat produced in his Fitzroy Square studio utilised dramatic lighting and unconventional poses.

Curtis Moffat, 'Abstract Composition'

Curtis Moffat
'Abstract Composition'
About 1925
Gelatin silver print
Museum no. E.2554-2007

Moffat seems to have made this abstract composition by painting photographic developer directly onto photographic paper.

Curtis Moffat, 'Que Scay-Je?'

Curtis Moffat
'Que Scay-Je?'
About 1935
Tri-carbro colour process print in original frame
From the collection of Penelope Smail

Moffat was a pioneer of colour photography, using the tri-carbro process towards both commercial and artistic ends.  He showed thirty-six colour images, mainly still life subjects, at the Mayor Gallery, London, in 1935.