File:Maria Porges Natural Magic 1999.jpg

Sculpture by Maria Porges, Natural Magic: Cures for Modern Maladies (wax wood, metal leaf, 30" x 46" x 7", 2000). The image illustrates a major body of work in Maria Porges's career in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when she produced cast wax bottle sculptures with affixed labels that took a philosophical and Dadaistic approach in their charged juxtaposition of text, wordplay and imagery, raising questions about meaning. As is this image of greyscale forms, they often appeared on shelves and cabinets, with individual poetic and metaphysical labels, such as "For Compassion Fatigue" and "To Relieve Boredom." These sculptures were publicly exhibited in prominent venues, discussed in major art journals and daily press publications, and acquired by museums.

Artist Maria Porges. Copyright held by the artist.

Maria Porges

Entire artwork

Yes. The image will not affect the commercial value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original due to its low resolution and the general workings of the art market, which values the actual work of art. Because of the low resolution, illegal copies could not be made.

The image has contextual significance serving an informational and educational purpose as the primary means of illustrating a key body of work in Maria Porges's mid-career: her curiously labeled, cast wax bottle sculptures, which she created in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Like much of her work, the bottles feature text, often in semiotic counterpoint to the commonplace forms, most often appearing as affixed labels. Appearing in groups arranged on shelves and in cabinets, the sculptures were characterized by reviewers as possessing a formal sensibility akin to the still lives of Giorgio Morandi. Because the article is about an artist and her work, the omission of the image would significantly limit a reader's understanding and ability to understand this key body of work and medium, which brought Porges wide recognition through exhibitions in major venues, coverage by major critics and publications. Porges's work of this type and this series, as well as this specific work, are discussed in the article and by critics cited in the article.

There is no free equivalent of this or any other of this series by Maria Porges, so the image cannot be replaced by a free image.

The image use is minimal in that it conveys important information that a full artwork image at a limited fair-use size cannot due to the uniquely hyper-detailed nature of the work. By providing a close-up of the artist's style and imagery, it is significantly more informative for a viewer. It is also a further protection (along with the low resolution) against affecting commercial value.