I downloaded this picture recently, 'Three Eggs', after seeing Aenne Biermann's portrait, 'Helga', and subsequently becoming interested in her life and work. Having some white eggs to hand today I thought to emulate what Biermann was doing when she put three white eggs on black and white sheets of paper in 1932.
Admittedly it would have taken a lot more to match what her's looks like while kneeling in my bay window waiting for occasional sunshine but it was interesting. Her elongated, clean, soft shadows are especially lovely. I assume she made this in a studio with a tungsten light source positioned low to the left side of her work table. And I now know how particularly awkward eggs can be to get them to sit exactly where you want them.
Biermann wrote: 'I realized ever more clearly that the lighting was of critical importance for the clarity of the work. … The effect of light ... a play of shadows seldom noticed, surprising contrasts of black and white, the problem of achieving a happy spatial arrangement in a picture, created inexhaustible surprises.' link here
