Portfolio One. The Seasons. Twelve Original Dye-transfer Prints.
San Francisco: Sierra Club, (1964). Porter, Eliot. First edition. One of 105 copies. 20 x 15 inches. Fine condition, in original folding linen case. The prints measure between 10 x 7-3/4 inches to 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches and are dry-mounted on Strathmore Illustration Board. A letterpress folio, with Porter's comments, a list of the prints, and a colophon, was printed by Lawton Kennedy (as usual, two copies are present). Each print is numbered and has the publisher's stamped signature on the back of the mat. Porter's original photographs were made on 4 x 5 inch Daylight Ektachrome film. Doubly-masked separation negatives, made from these by contact printing, were enlarged onto Matrix film for printing by the dye-transfer process. "As its name implies, the dye transfer process literally involves transferring dyes (cyan, magenta, and yellow) in succession and in careful registration onto a sheet of gelatin-coated paper. Porter remained committed to the dye-transfer process, both before and after the invention of simpler and more commonly used color papers, because it delivered richly colored prints and allowed him to control the exact hues and contrast of each final print." From the Eliot Porter Collection Guide, published on the Amon Carter Museum web site. Item #23792
The images are: Maple blossoms in a woodland pool, May, 1961, New Hampshire; Rhodora, May, 1953, New Hampshire; Aspens in early spring, June 1957, New Mexico; Eroded rock, July, 1953, New Mexico; Foxtail grass, August, 1957, Colorado; Weeds in rock cracks, August, 1955, Maine; Ponderosa pine, August, 1960, New Mexico; Spruce trees and river, September, 1959, Colorado; Yellow aspens, September, 1951, Colorado; Cypress swamp, February, 1954, Florida; Snow and grass, September, 1959, Colorado; Snow on sand dunes, September, 1959, Colorado.
Price: $11,500.00