Taylor, Arizona
Photograph
1945 (photographed)
1945 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Frederick Sommer was born in Italy and spent much of his early life in Brazil before studying landscape architecture at Cornell University in New York state. Sommer also made paintings and drawings and in 1935, having settled in Prescott, Arizona, he travelled to New York to show his drawings to Alfred Stieglitz, a pioneer of modern photography.
This encounter and the introduction to other artists associated with Stieglitz’s gallery, ‘291’, had a decisive impact on Sommer. Stieglitz and the photographer Edward Weston became mentors, encouraging Sommer to pursue his interest in photography. The Surrealist Max Ernst was also a significant influence. This photograph shows Sommer’s mastery of photographic technique and his engagement with the ideas and practices of Surrealism.
This encounter and the introduction to other artists associated with Stieglitz’s gallery, ‘291’, had a decisive impact on Sommer. Stieglitz and the photographer Edward Weston became mentors, encouraging Sommer to pursue his interest in photography. The Surrealist Max Ernst was also a significant influence. This photograph shows Sommer’s mastery of photographic technique and his engagement with the ideas and practices of Surrealism.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Taylor, Arizona (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Gelatin-silver print |
| Brief description | 'Taylor Arizona, 1945', photograph by Frederick Sommer (1905-1999) |
| Physical description | Photograph of a window of a wooden house. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | Arizona avant-garde
These two photographs show Sommer's mastery of photographic technique and his engagement with the ideas and practices of Surrealism.
Sommer settled in Prescott, Arizona, in 1935. In the same year he travelled to New York to show his drawings to Alfred Stieglitz, the great pioneer of modern photography. This encounter, and the introduction to other artists associated with Stieglitz's gallery, had a decisive impact on Sommer. The following year he also met Edward Weston, whose photographs he greatly admired. Stieglitz and Weston became mentors and encouraged Sommer to pursue his interest in photography.
Another significant influence was the Surrealist Max Ernst. They first met in 1941 and became closer when Ernst also moved to Arizona in 1946. In his portrait of Ernst, Sommer uses double exposure, combining a photograph of the artist with one of water stains on cement. In doing so, he evokes the Surrealist technique of 'frottage' (rubbing) and transforms an otherwise straightforward portrait into an uncanny homage.
[161 words]
Max Ernst
1946
Gelatin-silver print
Given by the photographer
Museum no. E.997-1993
Taylor, Arizona
1945
Gelatin-silver print
Museum no. 89-1977(20/01/2005) |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Frederick Sommer was born in Italy and spent much of his early life in Brazil before studying landscape architecture at Cornell University in New York state. Sommer also made paintings and drawings and in 1935, having settled in Prescott, Arizona, he travelled to New York to show his drawings to Alfred Stieglitz, a pioneer of modern photography. This encounter and the introduction to other artists associated with Stieglitz’s gallery, ‘291’, had a decisive impact on Sommer. Stieglitz and the photographer Edward Weston became mentors, encouraging Sommer to pursue his interest in photography. The Surrealist Max Ernst was also a significant influence. This photograph shows Sommer’s mastery of photographic technique and his engagement with the ideas and practices of Surrealism. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 89-1977 |
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| Record created | November 24, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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