Re: Artigue and Fresson Printing

S. Carl King (sanking@hubcap.clemson.edu)
Fri, 09 Jan 1998 13:19:04 -0400

<x-rich>

<fontfamily><param>Times</param><bigger><bigger>>>> Over 15 years ago a
friend gave me the

> results of a electron microscope scan of a piece of fresson paper.
The

> analysis revealed a lot of information and I have a real good idea
as

> to the number of coatings, and their type, but I found this

> information to be of little or no use when it came to the actual

> coating process, though it did help me understand the theory of the

> process.

>

>Sandy, if you could share with us, I would be very interested in
knowing the

>number of coatings. Was it a scan from a processed Fresson print? Or
was it an

>unprocessed paper? If it is unprocessed paper, is it one layer only?
Or does

>it have all the color layers on it?

Dave,

I will be happy to post that information but the notebook that contains
the result of the analysis is at another residence and I won't be able
to retrieve it until early next week. The analysis was of a piece of
unprocessed Fresson paper, manufactured in the late 40s or early 50s.
There was definitely more than one coating. The friend that gave me the
results of the analysis also gave me a small piece of the original
paper, which is still in my possession.

>

>

>>> Color Fressons do have a unique look, sort of semi-pointillistic,
that

>apparently results from the grain of the small format separation
negatives

>from which they

> are made.

>

>Does this pointillistic effect show on microscopic level only or can
that be

>seen with a loupe or with naked eyes? From the report I think that the
points

>or grains can be seen with naked eyes, but I would like to confirm
that if

>possible.

The semi-pointillistic effect is "very" visible to the naked eye.
However, it is much more pronounced with prints made from 35mm
originals than from 6X6 and larger format originals. Some years back I
saw some color Fressons by the Catalan photographer Tony Catany made
from 6X6 chromes on exhibition in Barcelona and they were distinctly
different from others that I have seen made with 35mm originals. As I
mentioned earlier, color Fressons are apparently made by enlargement
printing from 35mm color separations (made same-size from original
chromes) and this creates the grain, or pointillistic effect. ( Luis
describes this in one of his books but I can't locate the reference at
this moment.) Naturally, 6X6 and larger separations will less grain on
enlargement, which results in a smoother kind of image more like what
many contemporary workers are getting with other three and four-color
colloid processes, primarily gum and casein.

Someone asked earlier on this list if a specific photograph by Gerald
Ackerman was a Fresson. To the best of my knowledge all of Ackerman's
fine art photographs are Fressons. A colleague of mine owns a color
Fresson by Gerald Ackerman which she purchased from his mother. It is a
very nice print, a flower image, and shows a lot of grain.

Sandy King

>

</bigger></bigger></fontfamily>

</x-rich>