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Paracelsus

Date

1957

Creator

Frederick Sommer

Location

Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

Paracelsus was printed from synthetic negative of Sommer's own invention. In 1957 he [the photographer] began experimenting by painting on glass and using these plates as negatives in the enlarger. Then he turned to small, thin sheets of transparent cellophane on which he painted in transparent medium which was slightly tinted with brown paint. As the pigment set and its viscosity changed, Sommer manipulated the paint, working quickly to preserve the spontaneity of the image. Exposed in the enlarger, the clear portions of the sheet printed black, and the painted areas as a range of grays and white. Then he made gelatin silver prints several times larger than the handmade negatives. He did 10-20 of these extemporaneous sketches at a time. Sometimes he employed a variation of decalcomania, pressing pigment between two sheets of cellophane, then pulling them apart to create organic, dendritic patterns. The resulting images, which reveal the behavior of pigment, belong to the same school as the Abstract Expressionist paintings of such artists of the preceding decade as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. In his photographs from synthetic negatives, Sommer also experimented with Surrealist drawing techniques like fumage and cliché verre. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)

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Paracelsus was printed from synthetic negative of Sommer's own invention. In 1957 he [the photographer] began experimenting by painting on glass and using these plates as negatives in the enlarger. Then he turned to small, thin sheets of transparent cellophane on which he painted in transparent medium which was slightly tinted with brown paint. As the pigment set and its viscosity changed, Sommer manipulated the paint, working quickly to preserve the spontaneity of the image. Exposed in the enlarger, the clear portions of the sheet printed black, and the painted areas as a range of grays and white. Then he made gelatin silver prints several times larger than the handmade negatives. He did 10-20 of these extemporaneous sketches at a time. Sometimes he employed a variation of decalcomania, pressing pigment between two sheets of cellophane, then pulling them apart to create organic, dendritic patterns. The resulting images, which reveal the behavior of pigment, belong to the same school as the Abstract Expressionist paintings of such artists of the preceding decade as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. In his photographs from synthetic negatives, Sommer also experimented with Surrealist drawing techniques like fumage and cliché verre. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)
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  • Paracelsus was printed from synthetic negative of Sommer's own invention. In 1957 he [the photographer] began experimenting by painting on glass and using these plates as negatives in the enlarger. Then he turned to small, thin sheets of transparent cellophane on which he painted in transparent medium which was slightly tinted with brown paint. As the pigment set and its viscosity changed, Sommer manipulated the paint, working quickly to preserve the spontaneity of the image. Exposed in the enlarger, the clear portions of the sheet printed black, and the painted areas as a range of grays and white. Then he made gelatin silver prints several times larger than the handmade negatives. He did 10-20 of these extemporaneous sketches at a time. Sometimes he employed a variation of decalcomania, pressing pigment between two sheets of cellophane, then pulling them apart to create organic, dendritic patterns. The resulting images, which reveal the behavior of pigment, belong to the same school as the Abstract Expressionist paintings of such artists of the preceding decade as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. In his photographs from synthetic negatives, Sommer also experimented with Surrealist drawing techniques like fumage and cliché verre. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)
  • Paracelsus was printed from synthetic negative of Sommer's own invention. In 1957 he [the photographer] began experimenting by painting on glass and using these plates as negatives in the enlarger. Then he turned to small, thin sheets of transparent cellophane on which he painted in transparent medium which was slightly tinted with brown paint. As the pigment set and its viscosity changed, Sommer manipulated the paint, working quickly to preserve the spontaneity of the image. Exposed in the enlarger, the clear portions of the sheet printed black, and the painted areas as a range of grays and white. Then he made gelatin silver prints several times larger than the handmade negatives. He did 10-20 of these extemporaneous sketches at a time. Sometimes he employed a variation of decalcomania, pressing pigment between two sheets of cellophane, then pulling them apart to create organic, dendritic patterns. The resulting images, which reveal the behavior of pigment, belong to the same school as the Abstract Expressionist paintings of such artists of the preceding decade as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. In his photographs from synthetic negatives, Sommer also experimented with Surrealist drawing techniques like fumage and cliché verre. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)
Frederick Sommer (American, born in Italy, 1905 - 1999)
1957
Photographs
Gelatin silver print
2001.002
cellophane
decalcomania
gelatin silver prints
© Frederick & Frances Sommer Foundation
Not on view, please request access
13 1/2 x 10 1/8 in. (34.4 x 25.8 cm)
Milly Kaeser Fund in honor of Fritz Kaeser

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at RMMACollections@nd.edu.