Cut Paper
1967
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 27.3 x 20.5 cm (10 3/4 x 8 1/16 in.) mount: 43 x 35.2 cm (16 15/16 x 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Frederick Sommer
Accession Number
1995.5.30
Art Historical Context
Frederick Sommer’s "Cut Paper," created in 1967, is a gelatin silver print that invites viewers to explore the quiet beauty of abstract form. The modest image size of 27.3 × 20.5 cm belies the careful attention Sommer gave to arranging cut paper shapes, allowing light and shadow to define delicate edges and subtle textures. Printed on traditional silver gelatin paper, the work achieves the rich tonal range and crisp detail that made this medium central to mid-twentieth-century photography. Sommer, known for his experimental approach, used the simple act of cutting and photographing paper to t...
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...