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Blog Category: technology

Word Gallery: Granulation

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on October 12, 2011

Throughout art history, scholars have devised a special vocabulary to talk about art. These terms are very useful, but they are not always self-explanatory. Enter into the art historical word gallery, where we provide some definitions commonly used to describe artistic styles, techniques, or movements in art.

Granulation

Fibula (Pin), 625–600 BC. Italy, Etruria. Gold. California Midwinter International Exposition, through M.H. deYoung. 391. Currently on view in the Hall of Antiquities on the Lower Level at the Legion of Honor.

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FRAME|WORK: Magnolia Blossom by Imogen Cunningham

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on September 28, 2011

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series that highlights an artwork in the Museums' permanent collections. This week, we feature an iconic photograph by renowned Bay Area photographer Imogen Cunningham. Magnolia Blossom is currently not on view, so take some time to stop and smell the flowers (virtually)!

Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883–1976). Magnolia Blossom, 1925 (printed 1930). Gelatin silver print. Museum purchase, M.H. deYoung Memorial Museum. 54042

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Creating the World of the Dutch Golden Age

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on August 11, 2011

When you enter the exhibition Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection (on view at the Legion of Honor through October 2), you are immediately transported into the Dutch Golden Age.

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RTI Photography of the Red-Figure Pelike

Posted by Sue Grinols on May 18, 2011

In my last post, I introduced you to the cutting edge photography Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), a technique invented by Tom Malzbender at Hewlett Packard Labs. Here at the Museums, we have been using RTI to gain better understanding of objects in our permanent collection. We have just completed another round of RTI photography of this 5th-century Greek pelike.


Manner of the Kadmos Painter, Greek
Red-figure pelike, late 5th century BC
Greece, Athens. Terracotta
Gift of the Queen of Greece through Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, 1925.365

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Preserving Images of the 1906 Earthquake

Posted by Debbie and Victor... on May 13, 2011

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is home to a unique collection of 167 film negatives taken by photographer Arnold Genthe chronicling the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake and fires. The negatives were acquired by the Legion of Honor in 1943.

Genthe 1

Arnold Genthe (photographer), American, 1869–1942
Untitled (Earthslip on San Francisco's Union Street), 1906
Cellulose nitrate negative
Museum purchase, James D. Phelan Bequest Fund. 1943.407.6.1

On the day of the earthquake Genthe, an established photographer best known for his society portraits and views of old Chinatown, took to the streets of San Francisco equipped with a handheld Kodak camera and pockets full of roll film.

The film Genthe used was composed of a gelatin silver emulsion on a thin plastic support of cellulose nitrate. Cellulose nitrate film was introduced commercially at the end of the nineteenth century and remained in use until the mid-twentieth century. Lightweight, transparent and flexible, cellulose nitrate film freed photographers from the inconveniences of its predecessors, paper and glass plate negatives.

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Cutting Edge Photography Technique Comes to the de Young!

Posted by Sue Grinols on May 2, 2011

My name is Sue Grinols and as the director of photo services and imaging, I witness the intersection of art and technology on a daily basis. This is an exciting time to be working in photography. Just seeing how technology is changing the field can be breathtaking, not to mention challenging.

Photographing artwork is a sub-specialty of studio photography. Here at the Museums, we use the same equipment and techniques as photographers who produce beautiful images of cars, perfume bottles, leather couches, and the perfectly grilled steak. But instead of trying to capture the steak’s sizzle or the couch’s inviting warmth, we attempt to bring out the essential character of the artwork while emphasizing its sublime beauty whenever possible. When we’re not doing that, we can make images that show the hard, cold details of an object in order to help conservators as they work through treating the artwork, or to help curators in their scholarly study of an object. It is this second type of photography that I want to blog about today.

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