Asta Nielsen (Binsey Poplars) #9, 2009. Gelatin silver print from painted negative, unique, sheet: 51 1/4 x 41 15/16 inches (130.2 x 106.5 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York,Purchased with funds contributed by the Young Collectors Council with additional funds from Geoffrey Fontaigne  2009.33. © 2009 Matt Saunders

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Steeped in the history of cinema, Berlin-based artist Matt Saunders resurrects images of past film stars with the emotional devotion of a fan in his paintings, animated films, and photographs. Asta Nielsen (Binsey Poplars) #9 (2009) is part of a series that features Nielsen—an actress who starred in 1910s and 1920s Danish and German silent cinema—who was noted for her innovative, naturalistic style that opposed the overt theatricality of most contemporary silent-film actors. A hybrid of painting and photography, Saunders created this particular work by painting with oil paint and silver ink on both sides of Mylar sheets that were then used as a negative to produce a unique contact-print photograph. The process resulted in an image that preserves the scale of the original painting, while inverting the tonality and conflating the multiple layers of the varied materials involved. In this instance, the tape that Saunders used to mask the painting becomes an integral element of the composition and provides evidence of the tools of its making. The final image, suggestive of damaged celluloid, is imbued with a nostalgia that resonates with its subject of a near-forgotten screen star.

Joan Young