Sonnenbild im Atelier

The Viennese photographer Heinrich Kühn was among the leading figures of international Pictorialism at the turn of the century, a movement that presented photography as equal in artistic control and expression to the other fine arts. Like many of his peers, Kühn favored intimate subjects, focusing on his friends and family in domestic settings. Taking the studio as his subject in this photograph, he followed a tradition of artists portraying the environments of their creative production. The bromoil process allowed him a hand in shaping the aesthetic of the picture, building up multiple transfers to manipulate the tonal contrast and texture of the print for soft, painterly qualities.

Yet this photograph suggests a transition from the style of Pictorialism to modernism. Although this photograph depicts Kühn’s studio, the studio is not the true subject of the work. Rather, the pattern of lines and abstracted forms of the off-kilter boards and the play of light across the room take center stage.