Chargesheimer (Karl Hargesheimer)

Chargesheimer was born Karl Hargesheimer in 1924 in Cologne. In 1948 he joined a professional artists' union and changed his name to Chargesheimer, a contraction of his given name. As early as the late 1940s, Chargesheimer began to explore abstraction with montages and photograms, making cameraless works utilizing the effects of developer, fixer, and other chemicals on gelatin silver photographic paper.

"The chemigrams by Pierre Cordier (see Lot 82) and Chargesheimer represent Gitterman Gallery’s interest in abstraction and historical precedent.

With the evolution of digital photography and the growing ubiquity of the medium, artists have sought to create works that are easily distinguishable from what we could create with our phones. In many cases, these artists have turned to analog processes that create unique, physical works. The resulting, often abstract works carry on a dialogue from prior decades in the history of photography, as witnessed by these two works by Cordier and Chargesheimer. They were both early practitioners of the chemigram and worked independently with the process as early as the 1950s. At that time, their work had a direct dialogue with Abstract Expressionism and the post WWII political and social climate but it was also inherently photographic and distinct from similar explorations by painters of the time. I take great pleasure in seeing the dialogue between art from different periods and how each adds to the dialogue in their own distinct manner." - Tom Gitterman

Gitterman Gallery specializes in connoisseur level photographs from a broad range of styles and periods, often championing artists who have been previously overlooked.​