The first in Nathalie Léger's acclaimed genre-defying triptych of
books about the struggles and obsessions of women artists.
Exposition is the first in a triptych of books by the award-winning
writer and archivist Nathalie Léger that includes Suite for Barbara
Loden and The White Dress. In each, Léger sets the story of a female
artist against the background of her own life and research--an
archivist's journey into the self, into the lives that history hides
from us. Here, Léger's subject is the Countess of Castiglione
(1837-1899), who at the dawn of photography dedicated herself to
becoming the most photographed woman in the world, modeling for hundreds
of photos, including "Scherzo di Follia," among the most famous in
history. Set long before our own "selfie" age, Exposition is a
remarkably modern investigation into the curses of beauty, fame, vanity,
and age, as well as the obsessive drive to control and commodify one's
image.