WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Frederick Sommer

Frederick Sommer

Frederick Sommer

Italian-American, 1905–1999

WA-00029519

Angri, Italy

PrintmakingPhotography

Representation

None documented

21

Institutional Exhibitions

67

Works in Collection

120

Assets Indexed

6

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ5498754 ULAN500014027

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Still Life

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981–1982

No image

American Landscapes

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981

No image

Reinstallation of the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1980

No image

Edward Steichen Photography Center Reinstallation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1979

No image

Picture Puzzles

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1975

No image

Collage and the Photo-Image

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1973

No image

Portrait Photographs

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1969

No image

Steichen Gallery Reinstallation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

Recent Acquisitions: Photography

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1965–1966

No image

Edward Steichen Photography Center

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

50 Photographs by 50 Photographers

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1962

No image

Recent Acquisitions

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1960–1961

Field Verification (5 fields)

5 cross-verified · 0 single-source

Birth yearMoMA + Duplicate Merge· 93%✓
BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
LocationMoMA· 93%✓
NationalityMoMA· 93%✓
Death yearDuplicate Merge· 85%✓

Source Registry (2)

Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/frederick-sommer
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/5520
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Frederick Sommer was an American photographer and printmaker whose abstract compositions emerged from close study of natural forms and found materials. Working primarily in black and white photography from the 1930s onward, he created intricate images of rocks, vegetation, and weathered surfaces that dissolved conventional distinctions between landscape and abstraction. His layered approach to composition and his sustained investigation of tonal subtlety influenced generations of photographers concerned with formal structure rather than documentary representation. Based in Arizona, Sommer developed a distinctive practice that treated the photograph as a site for philosophical inquiry into perception and material reality.

Source: Christies Artsy · Trust score: 100% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Photography

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York

Canonical record

Artworks (67)

1967 · Gelatin silver print

10 1/2 × 8 1/8" (26.6 × 20.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Cut Paper

1963 · Gelatin silver print

13 1/4 × 8 13/16" (33.7 × 22.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Lee Nevin

1963 · Gelatin silver print

13 5/16 × 8 7/8" (33.8 × 22.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled [Out of Focus Nude]

Untitled [Out of Focus Nude]

1962 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 33.6 × 22.4 cm (13 1/4 × 8 7/8 in.); Mount: 50.7 × 40.8 cm (20 × 16 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1962 · Gelatin silver print

13 3/8 × 8 3/4" (34 × 22.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled

1962 · Gelatin silver print

13 5/16 × 9 1/16" (33.8 × 23.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Hadrian's Villa

Hadrian's Villa

1961 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 26.5 × 34.2 cm (10 7/16 × 13 1/2 in.); Mount: 40.5 × 50.7 cm (16 × 20 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Smoke on Cellophane #1

Smoke on Cellophane #1

1961 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 23.7 × 33.8 cm (9 3/8 × 13 5/16 in.); Mount: 41.1 × 50.3 cm (16 3/16 × 19 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Golden Apples

1961 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 26.6 × 33.6 cm (10 1/2 × 13 1/4 in.); Mount: 41.1 × 50.3 cm (16 3/16 × 19 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1961 · Lithograph on ivory wove paper

Image, max: 36 × 49.5 cm (14 3/16 × 19 1/2 in.); Sheet: 38 × 51 cm (15 × 20 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1961 · Lithograph on ivory wove paper

Image, max: 28.2 × 33.3 cm (11 1/8 × 13 1/8 in.); Sheet: 38 × 46 cm (15 × 18 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

1961 · Lithograph

composition (irreg.): 11 1/8 × 13 1/16" (28.2 × 33.2 cm); sheet: 14 15/16 × 18 1/16" (37.9 × 45.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1961 · Lithograph

composition (irreg.): 14 5/16 × 19 1/2" (36.4 × 49.5 cm); sheet: 15 1/16 × 20 1/16" (38.2 × 51 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Smoke on Cellophane 5

Smoke on Cellophane 5

1961 · Gelatin silver print

13 3/8 × 10 7/16" (34 × 26.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Smoke on Cellophane 1

Smoke on Cellophane 1

1961 · Gelatin silver print

10 1/2 × 13 1/4" (26.7 × 33.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Smoke on Cellophane 3

Smoke on Cellophane 3

1961 · Gelatin silver print

10 5/16 × 13 1/16" (26.2 × 33.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Capitoline Museum

Capitoline Museum

1960 · Gelatin silver print

11 3/16 × 7 1/2" (28.4 × 19 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Lee Nevin

1960 · Gelatin silver print

9 3/4 × 6 5/16" (24.7 × 16 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Paracelsus

1959 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 33.9 × 26.3 cm (13 3/8 × 10 3/8 in.); Mount: 50.8 × 40.8 cm (20 × 16 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

1959 · gelatin silver print, waxed, from a paint on celluloid negative

Image: 35.4 x 26 cm (13 15/16 x 10 1/4 in.); Matted: 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Configurations on Black 7

Configurations on Black 7

1957 · Gelatin silver print

13 5/16 × 10 1/2" (33.9 × 26.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Configurations on Black 6

Configurations on Black 6

1957 · Gelatin silver print

13 1/4 × 10 1/2" (33.7 × 26.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Configurations on Black 8

Configurations on Black 8

1957 · Gelatin silver print

13 1/8 × 10 1/2" (33.3 × 26.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Configurations on Black 3

Configurations on Black 3

1957 · Gelatin silver print

17 3/8 × 12 1/8" (44.2 × 30.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 67 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

67 published of 117 catalogued · 95 with image

MoMA
50 publishedof 100 catalogued84 img
Art Institute Chicago
11 published11 img
The Met
4 published
Cleveland Museum of Art
2 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 2)

2 entries · 1 sources

Paracelsus
1959 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
The Eatable Thief
1950 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Golden Apples (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Golden Apples (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

6

Movements1

Collections5

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Phillips

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction