WILLY KESSELS (1898-1974), UNTITLED PHOTOGRAM, 1935 vintage gelatin silver print; 9 1/8 x 6 3/4 in. (image), 20 x 16 in. (matted); artist stamp verso; blindstamp lower right recto. Condition: Excellent. WKE-0002.

Trained as a sculptor, designer, and architectural draftsman, Kessels began making photographs in the mid-1920s. He first achieved recognition as a photographer with his inclusion in the First Photography International at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, in 1932. Kessels used the photogram process to create an abstract photographic image without a camera by placing objects directly onto photosensitized paper. The image reflects the artistic investigation of pure form and celebrates the new, technologically mediated vision made possible by the photographic arts.

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Excellent