Collection Online as of March 29, 2023
Grapes in Paper Bag
Ilse Bing
(American, 1899–1998)
Gelatin silver print
Image: 47.5 x 40.4 cm (18 11/16 x 15 7/8 in.); Paper: 50.4 x 40.4 cm (19 13/16 x 15 7/8 in.)
Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2014.526
© Estate of Ilse Bing
Location
not on view
Description
In 1950 Ilse Bing started using a Rolleiflex, a twin lens, medium-format camera. She felt that its larger negatives allowed her to make bigger prints and offered “greater depth of field and clearer details than ever before with the Leica.” This elegant still life glories in its presentation of the objects’ textures, especially the smooth, translucent skins of the grapes contrasted with the matte paper bag.
Ilse Bing
Ilse Bing (American, b. Germany, 1899-1998). Ilse Bing became interested in photography while pursuing a doctoral degree in art history at Frankfurt University. Around 1927-28 she began taking photographs to illustrate her dissertation and in 1930 decided to move to Paris to look for freelance assignments. Using the new 35mm Leica camera, she worked as a fashion, portrait, and architectural photographer, as well as a photojournalist. During her years in Paris she took part in numerous exhibitions, including the Museum of Modern Art's Photography 1839-1937 show in New York. In 1941 Bing and her husband immigrated to the United States, settling in New York City. In New York she began to work on a different scale, using the larger-format Rolleiflex camera as well as electronic flash. By 1957 she was working exclusively in color. Two years later Bing gave up photography to concentrate on painting and poetry.