A reminder to anyone who can get to midtown Manhattan before Aug 16 (for
the cost of one of those sheets of copper you could fly in, David!), to
see the "Photogravure -- a Survey:1903-1996" show at Marlborough Graphics,
40 West 57 St.
Note that they are on summer hours -- ie., open Mon-Fri., closed Saturday.
I came as near as I ever came in life to actually buying a print -- a
Blossfeldt gravure (torn of course from a book!) one of a set of 6 for
$250 each, a lot considering that's what the whole book probably cost,
but for a stunning sample of the beauty of "Formen des Lebens,"* and the
fact that paper whites, that fetish of modern gum -- and other --
printing are absolutely beside the point if not counterproductive, a
bargain. What ultimately decided me against was the fantasy that people
would could in, see it on the wall, and say "now *that* I really like."
(Also, not much wallspace to begin with in these brownstones.)
As I noted before, range is from Stieglitz to McDermott & McGough --
whose prints in blue-black and eggplant-black were among the most
beautiful, BTW. Another "most beautiful" was GB Shaw's portrait of Coburn,
printed in a rich brown, again, be advised, with nothing in the top four
zones of paper white.
Technical news: The gallery info sheet, describing the process, explains
that the resist is sensitized with "potassium bicarbonate," in case any
of you are having trouble getting bichromate. (I asked the beauteous
young lady about this, she revealed that it came direct from the printer in
Germany.)
Another bonus is the gallery artists show alongside. Some works you
wonder how they got out of the Washington Square Art Show, others very
enjoyable, even excellent, particularly sculpture by a Grisha someone,
name hitherto unknown to me, Joel Otterness & James Surls, also a great
grand Red Grooms of the world's single most marvelous building (Empire
State, how could you even ask).
Do it.
*I know that "Formen des Lebens" is the Wolff book (the rest of it
being "Botanische Lichtbildstudien", it says right here) but I don't this
minute remember the Blossfeldt title. And BTW, there's a Sherry Levine
copy of a Walker Evans, showing that not even a German printer could make
her anemic copy look good, not even on toned paper, not even with an 8-ply
toned mat. Evans wins this one hands down, with dark glasses on.
Judy