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- Oct 16, 2002
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The show at the National Gallerys West Wing of Irving Penns seminal platinum/palladium prints was a revelation to me. Were it not for what is in my opinion a fatal flaw (that flaw being that the prints were all made from enlarged negatives) I would probably be of the opinion that these are the finest prints Ive seen, by any photographer, using any process, ever. As it is, theyre certainly close to that and theyre without question light years better than any other platinum work Ive yet encountered anywhere in more than 40 years of looking critically at photographs.
Theyre not perfect. Some of the highlights border on the blown, but I think thats mainly an artifact of the enlargement. Some of them are pretty grainy. But oh my god those blacks. Patent leather, India ink blacks which give these prints a mid tone glow which always eludes less masterful printers. Strand and Stieglitz were strictly amateur night compared to these. The prints appear to have a higher reflective Dmax than Azo, although thats of course the most subjective of impressions.
There was a lot of supplemental material to give insight into the years of struggle Penn had with the process. There are collages of washy, faded work prints, many with uneven coatings and contact sheets on silver paper with work plans for individual prints showing how each mask was to be applied and where tones were to be pulled back or augmented. These prints were layered; that is, an initial exposure was made with a mask, then another, longer one of just the negative and then the paper was recoated and yet another exposure made. He used pin registration equipment to build the tones in layers so as to achieve the final, incredible solidity of tone we see in the finished products.
The show is poorly lit, which I just cannot understand given the longevity of platinum prints. Over in the East Wing in the Small French Painting gallery, the paintings are beautifully lit, with a powerful indoor flood light for each piece no more than 6 or 8 feet from the painting. Corots, Renoirs, Pisarros all dazzling in the powerful light in which theyre bathed. I cant imagine that platinum/palladium prints are any less prone to deterioration that the pigments in oil paint. Youd think National Gallery curators would know better.
In any case, if youre anywhere near Washington, DC between now and the beginning of October, you really owe it to yourself to see this show. Rarely have I been so impressed.
Theyre not perfect. Some of the highlights border on the blown, but I think thats mainly an artifact of the enlargement. Some of them are pretty grainy. But oh my god those blacks. Patent leather, India ink blacks which give these prints a mid tone glow which always eludes less masterful printers. Strand and Stieglitz were strictly amateur night compared to these. The prints appear to have a higher reflective Dmax than Azo, although thats of course the most subjective of impressions.
There was a lot of supplemental material to give insight into the years of struggle Penn had with the process. There are collages of washy, faded work prints, many with uneven coatings and contact sheets on silver paper with work plans for individual prints showing how each mask was to be applied and where tones were to be pulled back or augmented. These prints were layered; that is, an initial exposure was made with a mask, then another, longer one of just the negative and then the paper was recoated and yet another exposure made. He used pin registration equipment to build the tones in layers so as to achieve the final, incredible solidity of tone we see in the finished products.
The show is poorly lit, which I just cannot understand given the longevity of platinum prints. Over in the East Wing in the Small French Painting gallery, the paintings are beautifully lit, with a powerful indoor flood light for each piece no more than 6 or 8 feet from the painting. Corots, Renoirs, Pisarros all dazzling in the powerful light in which theyre bathed. I cant imagine that platinum/palladium prints are any less prone to deterioration that the pigments in oil paint. Youd think National Gallery curators would know better.
In any case, if youre anywhere near Washington, DC between now and the beginning of October, you really owe it to yourself to see this show. Rarely have I been so impressed.
