ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
Here is my Weily blueprint history and herstory.
But before I talk about photo arts now, I must bow to our great predecessors. The long blueprint story began in the eighteen hundreds when photography was an infant. First, of course, Henry Fox Talbot, who invented and explored the photo possibilities. He was astonishing. He encouraged and shared his vision with Anna Atkins, an important cyanotype explorer (the first to present this work in book form).
I am just bowing to our blue history as personal history, I will tell you of my grandmother, Sara Adler Weil. When she was a young thing, she took a glass plate photo of herself to her father’s office. He was the architect Dankmar Adler, in Chicago. Together they thought to put this glass image on his architectural blueprint paper and make her little girl portrait. You can see that I had to explore blueprint.
Blueprints have been part of my life since I was a child. My brother and I used to make small blueprints of leaf, shells, paperclips, and any sort of object with an interesting silhouette.
Sara Adler, Self Portrait, ca. 1885. Cyanotype on paper. 5 x 5 inches. Collection of Susan Weil.
Dankmar and Susan Weil on Outer Island, 1933.
Robert Rauschenberg cutting Susan Weil's hair in Paris, summer 1948.
Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg at Black Mountain College, 1949.
The next chapter of my story: After high school I went to Paris to study art at the Academie Julien. I met Bob Rauschenberg there (I couldn’t have avoided if I wanted to, as we were staying in the same pension and going to the same art school). We shared the intensity about the long art story.
After summer I returned and went to Black Mountain College to study with Josef Albers. He was a professor in Germany’s Bauhaus, the exciting and irreverent school. Albers and his wife Anni were invited to teach at Black Mountain. It was a very art-oriented college. I was surprised when Bob R. appeared to study with Albers. We had a disciplined and exciting year there. Albers went on to teach at Yale. In the summer break Bob stayed with my family on their small island. In Connecticut we painted a lot and explored other creative activities. Bob and I talked about my childhood blueprint fun. We went together to an architecture supply place and bought a full roll of unexposed blueprint paper. My younger brother Jim was the smallest person there, so we had him lie on the paper surrounded by seaweed, shells, stones, and made a blueprint. We fixed it with water and peroxide. The blues were deep and varied. That summer we made many more. We enjoyed the exploration very much.
After our marriage in 1950 we moved to a small apartment in New York. Art school continued at the Art Students League. This gave Bob the much-needed G. I. Bill. We bought ultraviolet bulbs to replace sunshine and continued to make blueprints (cyanotypes). We felt pleased with this journey. In those days the art world was small and almost every artist knew each other and/or each other’s work. Bob wanted to share the cyanotype experience. In the spirit of that time, he contacted Edward Steichen at the Museum of Modern Art. We had an appointment. He was enthusiastic and put the blueprint “PAT” in a contemporary photography show. That was thrilling. We were still art students.
In 1951 “Life” magazine printed an article and photograph about our blue journey. That was a wonderful event for two young artists!
Happy art years! Wonderful collaborations! Always say our best collaboration was our son Christopher, but the blues were fine too!
Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil developing a blueprint in their communal bathroom, West 95th Street, New York, 1951. Photo by Wallace Kirkland.
Blueprint by Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg, exhibited in Abstraction in Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951.
Christopher Rauschenberg, photo by Aaron Siskind, 1951.
Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg, Sue, ca. 1949, blueprint.
A long and ongoing blue collaboration continues with Jose Betancourt. Team Blue has made and exhibited many blues in galleries and also museums. We work together perfectly. We are singing the blues!
My Blue Journey!
More to come!
- Susan Weil, 2019
BLUEPRINT COLLABORATIONS WITH JOSE BETANCOURT
VIEW MORE
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
Here is my Weily blueprint history and herstory.
But before I talk about photo arts now, I must bow to our great predecessors. The long blueprint story began in the eighteen hundreds when photography was an infant. First, of course, Henry Fox Talbot, who invented and explored the photo possibilities. He was astonishing. He encouraged and shared his vision with Anna Atkins, an important cyanotype explorer (the first to present this work in book form).
I am just bowing to our blue history as personal history, I will tell you of my grandmother, Sara Adler Weil. When she was a young thing, she took a glass plate photo of herself to her father’s office. He was the architect Dankmar Adler, in Chicago. Together they thought to put this glass image on his architectural blueprint paper and make her little girl portrait. You can see that I had to explore blueprint.
Sara Adler, Self Portrait, ca. 1885. Cyanotype on paper. 5 x 5 inches. Collection of Susan Weil.
Blueprints have been part of my life since I was a child. My brother and I used to make small blueprints of leaf, shells, paperclips, and any sort of object with an interesting silhouette.
Dankmar and Susan Weil on Outer Island, 1933.
The next chapter of my story: After high school I went to Paris to study art at the Academie Julien. I met Bob Rauschenberg there (I couldn’t have avoided if I wanted to, as we were staying in the same pension and going to the same art school). We shared the intensity about the long art story.
Robert Rauschenberg cutting Susan Weil's hair in Paris, summer 1948.
After summer I returned and went to Black Mountain College to study with Josef Albers. He was a professor in Germany’s Bauhaus, the exciting and irreverent school. Albers and his wife Anni were invited to teach at Black Mountain. It was a very art-oriented college. I was surprised when Bob R. appeared to study with Albers. We had a disciplined and exciting year there. Albers went on to teach at Yale. In the summer break Bob stayed with my family on their small island. In Connecticut we painted a lot and explored other creative activities. Bob and I talked about my childhood blueprint fun. We went together to an architecture supply place and bought a full roll of unexposed blueprint paper. My younger brother Jim was the smallest person there, so we had him lie on the paper surrounded by seaweed, shells, stones, and made a blueprint. We fixed it with water and peroxide. The blues were deep and varied. That summer we made many more. We enjoyed the exploration very much.
Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg at Black Mountain College, 1949.
After our marriage in 1950 we moved to a small apartment in New York. Art school continued at the Art Students League. This gave Bob the much-needed G. I. Bill. We bought ultraviolet bulbs to replace sunshine and continued to make blueprints (cyanotypes). We felt pleased with this journey. In those days the art world was small and almost every artist knew each other and/or each other’s work. Bob wanted to share the cyanotype experience. In the spirit of that time, he contacted Edward Steichen at the Museum of Modern Art. We had an appointment. He was enthusiastic and put the blueprint “PAT” in a contemporary photography show. That was thrilling. We were still art students.
Blueprint by Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg, exhibited in Abstraction in Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951.
In 1951 “Life” magazine printed an article and photograph about our blue journey. That was a wonderful event for two young artists!
Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil developing a blueprint in their communal bathroom, West 95th Street, New York, 1951. Photo by Wallace Kirkland.
Happy art years! Wonderful collaborations! Always say our best collaboration was our son Christopher, but the blues were fine too!
Christopher Rauschenberg, photo by Aaron Siskind, 1951.
A long and ongoing blue collaboration continues with Jose Betancourt. Team Blue has made and exhibited many blues in galleries and also museums. We work together perfectly. We are singing the blues!
My Blue Journey!
More to come!
- Susan Weil, 2019
Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg, Sue, ca. 1949, blueprint.
BLUEPRINT
COLLABORATIONS WITH
JOSÉ BETANCOURT
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
José
2011
Cyanotype on cotton shirt wrapped frame with laminated black and white photograph reproduction
18.75 x 18 x 3.5 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Berserkle
2009
Cyanotype on canvas
78.5 x 77.5 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Catenary
2010
Gelatin silver print and cyanotype fabric
34 x 39 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Day/Night Summer
2011
Cyanotype and silver print collage
19.75 x 27 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Grace (Blueprint Chair)
2010
Cyanotype on canvas
45 x 24 x 10.5 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Whoosh
2009
Cyanotype on canvas
52.5 x 83.5 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Moon Cycle
2012
Acrylic and cyanotype on canvas
56 x 81 inches
Susan Weil & José Betancourt
Tears
2012
Acrylic and cyanotype on canvas
24 x 26 x 5.25 inches
VIEW MORE
© 2022 Susan Weil
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© 2022 Susan Weil