top of page
Untitled by Gustave Zander

Untitled by Gustave Zander

ABOUT THIS COLLECTION  

A Swedish physician, Gustav Zander (1835-1920) helped pioneer “mechanotherapy,” or the promotion of health and healing through the use of exercise apparatus. At a time when belief in noxious humor still existed, Zander’s idea to promote health with resistance training using specialized machinery was revolutionary. While some of the machines pictured in this series resemble instruments of torture, each shows how it targeted different parts of the body—much like the mechanized trainers in a modern-day gym.

 

COLLECTION DETAILS

  • Series title: Medico-Mechanical Gymnastics by Gustave Zander
  • Series size: 12 artworks
  • Edition: Limited edition of 1000
  • Proof of Ownership: Certification on the Ethereum blockchain under the ERC1155 protocol. Each artwork is delivered privately and directly to collectors as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that guarrante proof of ownership.
  • Format: Pieces consist of PNG files sized 2160x3840 pixels - 150 dpi.
  • Medium: Photography
  • Artwork materials:  Photographic paper
  • Contract Address: 0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e
  • ID: 2749212597480566...

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

The innovative and enterprising Zander was a follower of countryman Pehr Henrik Ling, inventor of calisthenics, or exercises performed with minimal equipment. Zander added the equipment, inventing a wide range of mechanical outlets for exertion. But because the weight and tension could be targeted and regulated, his genius was to see how machines offered therapeutic exercise to those with injuries, deformities, and those just not in good enough shape for calisthenics. Zander’s success took off when he won a gold medal at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia for his exercise machines. Before long, he opened Zander Institutes around the world. For the first time, exercise was seen as a personal choice, not something required by economic necessity. Naturally this appealed to the elite, who made sure to wear the very latest in athletic wear.

 

COLLECTION CREDITS

  • Historical curatorship: HARI - Historical Art Research Institute (HARI Editions)
  • Artwork: Gustave Zander
  • Year of original publication: 1892
  • Post-production: HARI - Historical Art Research Institute (HARI Editions)
  • Digital art supervisor: Marie-Lou Desmeules
  • Editorial: Braden Phillips
  • Historical research: Evangelos Rosios, Braden Phillips
  • Executive production: Victor Zabrockis

 

RIGHTS OVERVIEW

  • Source of artwork: Smithsonian Libraries
  • Underlying work rights: PD Worldwide
  • Digital copyrights: Attribution

    You might also like

    Can you support us?  Let us know. 

    HARI's team of researchers is small but we will contact you within 24 hours in order to find out how you can support us in the quest to immortalise historical art 

    bottom of page