Hemileuca Eglanterina 2005 - Huge

Year2005

Hand SignedLower Left 

Condition Mint 

Not Framed 

Purchased fromArtist 2005 

Provenance / HistoryJoseph Scheer captures incredibly detailed images of moths with a scanner originally designed for film and transparencies. The tiny micro moths are as small as .25 inch and the giant Silk moths have wings spans up to 5 inches. Using a special scanner that has a programmable focus for different depths of field, he scans each specimen between 7 and 40 times using different points of focus. Then he painstakingly reassembles them choosing only parts from the files that are in focus. The scanner records so much information—67 million data points per square inch—that a single specimen may take a full day to scan. The data files generated are huge: some of his many layered images are up to 10 Gigabytes before processing. With resolution that high, scans can be enlarged 2,700 percent and still be perfectly clear. Moths that in life rest comfortably on a fingertip dramatically occupy 32 x 44 inches (86 x 116 cm) archival art papers. Only by looking at the moth through microscope could you see the tiny scales on body and wings as clearly as they’re revealed in Scheer’s prints. At every step from scanner to monitor to printer, the artist keeps the actual specimen in front of him, constantly comparing his digital representations to nature’s original. “Every moth requires hours of work,” he says. “Color correcting the scan, adjusting the printer so the final image truly matches the moth. It has to be perfect.” 

Certificate of AuthenticityArt Brokerage 

LID158064

Joseph Scheer - Germany

Art Brokerage: Joseph Scheer German Artist: Joseph Scheer's digital photographs and works on paper express the beauty of nature and the splendor of science. Using a microscope camera, the artist captures butterflies, moths, and other winged insects in exquisite detail. His photographs have an anthropological feel reinforced by the works' titles: the scientific names for each specimen. Scheer juxtaposes his digital prints with other naturalistic materials like leaves, tree branches, and creepy-crawlies in his collage works. Through his precise, detailed approach to nature photography, Scheer reminds viewers to appreciate the small moments of wonder we take for granted every day. His works have been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, the National Museum of China, Stockholm's Nationalmuseum, and the Field Museum.. Listings wanted.