#16/16: Sheila Metzner Fashion

“Metzner’s devotion to beauty and to art has brought us back to the body, to Apollo, Berger, Modigliani, Paglia, and to Yeats. But more importantly it has brought us back to the greatest faith, the rapturous, life-changing “faith of love” through art.” (From the Introduction by John Wood)

Fashion, like each and every 21st Editions undertaking, is unique to the 21st Editions Collection of Word, Image and Artisan Bindings. A year in the planning stages and a year in the making, Fashion affords an alternative way of viewing, interacting, and sharing a classic and rare kind of photographic print (Fresson) and presentation. To encompass a career articulating fashion through the art of Sheila Metzner is not possible in five separate presentations, yet using some of those she is most famous for does pay homage to the importance of this artist in the history of fashion and of photography.

Early on, after seeing some of the prints that Theodore Fresson initially printed for Sheila she wrote him: “Thank you for the fine prints. It is as though you read my mind. They are perfect…” She continues today to work with the Fresson family exclusively for her color work.

“Color is the key. Since Steichen and Outerbridge, who worked in the carbon process, color printing became a dye process. Dyes were fugitive, only three colors, no black. It wasn’t until I searched for, and found Fresson, that I felt I could work in color. The proces de charbon, a carbon print, made with pigment colors, is the only truly archival printing process on earth. You have all the colors a painter has, as well as blacks and greys. It was invented by Theodore Henri Fresson in 1891, and remains with his grandson, and great-grandson today.” -Sheila Metzner

Sheila Metzner FASHION

Sheila Metzner’s Fashion, our first title of 2014, sets the stage for a new and unique presentation for the collectors of 21st Editions. Sheila’s fifty-year career is equally important in both art and fashion, and her most well-known images are included in this collection of five, presented in a unique and very limited edition. The Fresson prints will be mounted in five free-standing presentations, each covered in a different silk from designers such as Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Pucci, Valentino, and Roberto Cavalli. This Metzner collection is designed for display on a surface or stand, rather than a wall.

The Fresson print process used here was invented by Théodore-Henri Fresson around 1899 and continued to this day, first by his sons Pierre and Edmond, and now his grandson Jean-Francois. The addition of color into the original charcoal-based process was introduced in 1950. This process is proprietary and therefore extremely rare with each print being considered unique.

Each of these Fresson prints is hand-made by Theodore-Henri Fresson’s grandson, Jean-Francois, and made with T.H. Fresson’s original 1895 enlarger using pure color pigments and saw dust. The Fresson print has been the exclusive choice of Sheila Metzner throughout her career. The print surface itself is somewhat akin to the silks used in constructing these sets.

Specifications:
Fresson prints: 12 x 9 inches (signed and dated)
Print folders closed: 17 x 12 x 3/8 inches
Presentation box: approximately 18 x 13 x 3 inches
Accompanying book of Sheila’s sketches and letters: 11 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition: 19 numbered copies, 1 artist copy and 1 publishers copy
Handcrafted in New England