Untitled 19th-20th century

Curator: Well, right off the bat, it’s…serene. A sort of quiet dignity in this sepia tone. There's something so delicately sad about it. Editor: Precisely! And this striking stillness is captured in an "Untitled" albumen print from the 19th-20th century, part of Giorgio Sommer's Italian oeuvre housed here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He was known for using this technique with the goal of obtaining clear and precise images. Notice how the medium gives depth to the textures captured! Curator: Texture, yeah, absolutely. I can almost feel the cool smoothness of the stone. It’s a photograph OF sculpture that tricks the eye in an awesome way, makes you want to reach out and touch a photograph. I love that tension. Is she based on a real Greek figure or sculpture, do you know? Editor: What you're responding to has deep roots in classical realism—the clear subject matter combined with idealized human form harkens back to ancient statuary. Now, in this print, we see a nude figure presented in graceful contrapposto. Sommer, likely working within the tradition of the Grand Tour, documented such artworks meticulously. He would capture their form as the work of art took on a life and symbolic system that connected modern audiences back to the cultural importance of these findings. Curator: Contrapposto! Okay, you just nailed what felt so natural and beautiful about her pose. She's alive, even in marble, and even MORE so through Sommer’s lens and the way the albumen pulls all this delicate information to the surface. But doesn’t it also seem that the simple act of photographing the sculpture transforms it, elevates it somehow? Editor: The photographic process definitely adds a layer, doesn’t it? It pulls the statue into a modern dialogue, using the tools of reproducibility. But let us consider the backdrop—notice how Sommer’s treatment of light sculpts her form but in a way that’s altogether photographic and therefore, creates a sense of contrast. It underscores both the volume and its delicate surfaces to allow viewers to perceive it within its intended cultural and aesthetic framework. Curator: Light… that makes so much sense. Sommer wasn’t just copying; he was composing a new kind of image using photography. The emotionality mixed with technique is… sublime, I think. I could stare at her all day. Editor: And indeed, in the meticulous capture, Sommer offers an invaluable bridge linking us to the classical ideal through a modern, innovative art form that extends even to today.