Am Bach | At the Stream

Am Bach | At the Stream

Am Bach, German for At the Stream, is a pleasing pictorial landscape scene by Sigismund Blumann. The image itself seemed to be a favorite of the photographer, who reworked it in different shades of colors and mediums. Alternately, he titled it: The Path That we Trod, in this archive, is an unmounted bromoil print. The Path We Trod, a mounted lithobrome held by the family of the photographer, is a variant with the perspective of the path itself being the central focus of the composition with stream on left. Evening Reflections, also in this family collection, is a blue-toned print believed to be a bromoil.

Because of the evident screen pattern noticeable in raking light on this particular print, and with the addition of the masked stippled border, this archive is placing it as a Benday print. A Benday variant masking and overlay screen process practiced by Camera Craft editor Sigismund Blumann in his own darkroom was published for the January, 1929 issue, with this print most likely from this period because his F.R.P.S (Fellow, Royal Photographic Society) honorarium is lacking on the mount.

Related Blog Entries

California Pipe Dreamer

Title
Am Bach | At the Stream
Photographer
Country
Medium
Year
Dimensions

Image Dimensions24.0 x 19.0 cm including border & laid down

Support Dimensions50.6 x 32.8 cm moderately thick gray art paper with impressed window

Print Notes

Recto: signed in graphite by the artist on the mount within impressed window l.r.: Sigismund Blumann

Verso:  Pasted gray and brown Art Nouveau label (5.5 x 13.7 cm) on mount with Blumann’s home address of 3217 Davis Street Fruitvale, California: handwritten title in black ink by the artist: Am Bach.

Provenance

Sigismund Blumann, Fruitvale California: acquired for this archive in December, 2019 from his grandson Thomas High.