{"product_id":"anna-atkins-zygnema-curvatum-1853-giclee-print","title":"Anna Atkins – Zygnema curvatum, 1853 | Giclée Print","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eZygnema curvatum\u003c\/em\u003e is a freshwater alga of ponds and slow ditches — a mat of green threads so fine that a handful feels like wet silk. Dried and laid on the sensitised paper, it printed as one luminous mass, closer to a cloud than to a plant. It is the least plant-like picture in the whole album, and the most modern.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnna Atkins made her images without a camera. She laid the dried plant on coated paper, exposed it to daylight and rinsed it in water. Between 1843 and 1853 she did this several thousand times and produced \u003cem\u003ePhotographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions\u003c\/em\u003e — the first book in history illustrated with photographs. Perhaps twenty-five copies were ever assembled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat this is.\u003c\/strong\u003e A giclée reproduction of one of Atkins's cyanotypes, printed with pigment inks. It is not a cyanotype and is not sold as one — a real cyanotype is a unique object made in sunlight, and Atkins's are in museums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScale\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eOriginal: 25.3 × 20 cm \/ 10.0 × 7.9 in — Metropolitan Museum of Art\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e30 × 40 cm \/ 11.8 × 15.7 in\u003c\/strong\u003e — Original size, 1:1\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e50 × 70 cm \/ 19.7 × 27.6 in\u003c\/strong\u003e — Enlarged, 2.1× original\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt original size the sheet carries the cyanotype exactly as Atkins made it. Enlarged, the mass fills a wall and the paper grain of 1853 becomes visible — which is a different picture, and a deliberate one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe plate is reproduced whole, including Atkins's handwritten species name. Only the museum's mount around the sheet is trimmed away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nAnna Atkins (1799–1871), \u003cem\u003eZygnema curvatum\u003c\/em\u003e, from \u003cem\u003ePhotographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions\u003c\/em\u003e, 1843–1853; cyanotype, image 25.3 × 20 cm.\u003cbr\u003e\nThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005, Acc. No. 2005.100.557 (117).\u003cbr\u003e\nThe work is in the public domain worldwide; the Museum publishes its digitisation under Open Access (CC0).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe print\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nGiclée on 200 gsm FSC-certified fine art paper, twelve pigment inks. White border, optical centre. The paper tone of the original is kept, not corrected. Unframed. Shipped rolled in a tube.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Museartis","offers":[{"title":"30 × 40 cm \/ 11.8 × 15.7 in — Original size, 1:1","offer_id":65755226833245,"sku":"MUS-009-3040","price":59.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true},{"title":"50 × 70 cm \/ 19.7 × 27.6 in — Enlarged, 2.1× original","offer_id":65755227259229,"sku":"MUS-009-5070","price":89.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1102\/7139\/8237\/files\/museartis-atkins-zygnema-curvatum-plate.jpg?v=1788181044","url":"https:\/\/museartis.com\/products\/anna-atkins-zygnema-curvatum-1853-giclee-print","provider":"Museartis","version":"1.0","type":"link"}