Cut Paper
1981
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 24.2 x 18.4 cm (9 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.) mount: 37.3 x 30.9 cm (14 11/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Frederick Sommer
Accession Number
1995.5.10
Art Historical Context
Frederick Sommer's "Cut Paper," a 1981 gelatin silver print, offers a quiet study in form and light. The modest image size of 24.2 by 18.4 centimeters focuses attention on the crisp edges and subtle shadows created by arranged paper fragments. As a traditional photographic process, the gelatin silver print allows for rich tonal gradations and fine detail, qualities that Sommer used to turn ordinary cut shapes into an abstract visual language. The work reflects the artist’s long-standing interest in transforming simple materials through photography. By photographing cut paper rather than drawi...
About the Artist
Frederick Sommer
Frederick Sommer (1905–1999) was one of the most singular and philosophically searching visual artists of twentieth-century America, a figure who defied easy categorization as he moved between photography, drawing, collage, and theoretical writing across a career spanning more than six decades. Born in Angri, Italy, and raised in Brazil, Sommer earned a master's degree in landscape architecture fr...