Synopses & Reviews
This stunning bookand#151;published in the artistand#8217;s centenaryand#151;chronicles the extraordinary life and work of Frederick Sommer (1905and#150;1999). One of the great masters and key innovators in the history of art photography, Sommer was a complex and highly creative individual. His work in photography is unconventional and fascinating for its wide range of methodologies and techniques. He also explored making images with other media, creating masterful drawings, collages, and musical scores.
Arriving in Arizona in 1931, Sommer abandoned his original profession, landscape architecture, and began painting and drawing. After meeting Alfred Stieglitz in 1935 and Edward Weston in 1936, Sommer embraced and quickly mastered photography. Other artists who later proved inspirational to Sommer included Precisionist painter and photographer Charles Sheeler, Surrealist artist Max Ernst, and photographer Aaron Siskind.
With an essay by photo historian Keith F. Davis, exquisite reproductions of Sommerand#8217;s diverse works, and a detailed chronology of his life by April Watson, The Art of Frederick Sommer describes and documents the full extent of the artistand#8217;s achievement as a twentieth-century visionary. The book is a revelation for scholars, artists, students, and everyone who admires and appreciates creative genius.
Review
"With powerful images and eloquent text,
The Art of Frederick Sommer presents
the lifeand#8217;s work of our greatest visual poet. This is a book for the ages and a celebration of one hundred years, and it confirms how Sommerand#8217;s ideas and sources link him to a profound belief in aesthetics as a way of life. To all who now hold this book in their hands: your life may never be the same. "and#8212;Emmet Gowin, Princeton University
Synopsis
"In total acceptance, almost everything becomes a revelation."--Frederick Sommer This stunning book--published in the artist's centenary--chronicles the extraordinary life and work of Frederick Sommer (1905-1999). One of the great masters and key innovators in the history of art photography, Sommer was a complex and highly creative individual. His work in photography is unconventional and fascinating for its wide range of methodologies and techniques. He also explored making images with other media, creating masterful drawings, collages, and musical scores.
Arriving in Arizona in 1931, Sommer abandoned his original profession, landscape architecture, and began painting and drawing. After meeting Alfred Stieglitz in 1935 and Edward Weston in 1936, Sommer embraced and quickly mastered photography. Other artists who later proved inspirational to Sommer included Precisionist painter and photographer Charles Sheeler, Surrealist artist Max Ernst, and photographer Aaron Siskind.
With an essay by photo historian Keith F. Davis, exquisite reproductions of Sommer's diverse works, and a detailed chronology of his life by April Watson, The Art of Frederick Sommer describesand documents the full extent of the artist's achievement as a twentieth-century visionary. The book is a revelation for scholars, artists, students, and everyone who admires and appreciates creative genius.
Synopsis
"In total acceptance, almost everything becomes a revelation."--Frederick Sommer
Synopsis
This stunning book chronicles the life and work of twentieth-century visionary Frederick Sommer. Among the great masters of art photography, Sommer employed an array of innovative methodologies and techniques to create complex and unconventional images. More than 200 exquisite reproductions of his works affirm the extent of his extraordinary achievement.
About the Author
Keith F. Davis is Hallmark Fine Art Programs director and visiting research professor of art history, University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Michael Torosian is proprietor of Lumiere Press, Canada.
April M. Watson is research associate and adjunct professor, Department of Art and Art History, University of Missouri, Kansas City.