
Manina
Erwin Blumenfeld's 'Manina' is a solarized gelatin silver print printed in 1949, showcasing the photographer's innovative darkroom techniques. The solarization process creates striking tonal reversals that enhance the surreal quality of the portrait.
- Medium
- Solarized gelatin silver print, printed 1949.
- Location
- Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT
- Spotted At
- Auction House · PhillipsView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
Photographs
October 14, 2020
More by Erwin Blumenfeld
Artists in conversation

Man Ray
American · b. 1890

Man Ray pioneered the solarization technique in photography alongside Lee Miller, creating surrealist portrait prints with the same striking tonal reversals and dreamlike distortions seen in Blumenfeld's Manina. His experimental darkroom approach and Surrealist sensibility align directly with this gelatin silver print's avant garde aesthetic.

Lee Miller
American · b. 1907

Lee Miller co-developed the solarization process and applied it extensively to black and white portrait photography, producing works with the same eerie tonal reversals and surrealist mood that define Blumenfeld's Manina. Her experimental modernist portraits share both the technical medium and the uncanny visual quality of this specific piece.

Dora Maar
French · b. 1907

Dora Maar created avant garde experimental photographs using darkroom manipulation and photomontage techniques that produced surrealist distortions in black and white portrait imagery closely comparable to Blumenfeld's solarized work. Her Surrealist movement photography shares the same experimental spirit and uncanny tonal transformation found in Manina.
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