Artwork images copyright Andrea M. Baldeck, artist. Please do not copy or use the images I’ve posted. I took pictures of this item in the shade outside. It looks much better in-person (the paper is bright white, etc).
This is a rare original black and white gelatin silver print photograph by Andrea M. Baldeck (Am., born 1950) from her ‘Bones, Books & Bell Jars’ series. There is a 132 page book on the series, but it’s sold out. Luckily, there’s a web-site dedicated to the series. Note that this isn’t just a still life photograph, because a regular artist couldn’t make it. Getting permission to handle, arrange and photograph anything from the Mutter Museum collection is kind of impossible, unless you’re Andrea Baldeck, that is.
Baldeck works in black and white because she sees that as an abstraction of reality. She works with film, not digital photography. This photograph is 20 x 16 inches sheet size, unframed, and ships flat, not rolled. Provenance: Pitman Gallery & Art Center (PGAC), a non-profit arts organization located 20 minutes from Philadelphia. This and other photographs by Baldeck were donations.
She’s an important artist. The Andrea Baldeck Photographic Center at Vassar College is named for her. She was nominated 2017 Visionary Woman by Moore College Of Art & Design, an institution that holds an important place in American art history. Baldeck’s greatest influence was photojournalist W. Eugene Smith. She’s a museum artist, with over 20 photographs in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You can see her page on the Art In Embassies site, U.S. Department of State. Baldeck has eight (8) books to her credit, including “Bones, Books & Bell Jars, Photographs Of The Mutter Museum Collection”. Other books include “Touching The Mekong”, “Himalaya: Land Of The Snow Lion”, “Closely Observed”, etc.
Please check my other listings: I’ll be working over the upcoming weeks to list other photographs I have by this artist. Some are unsigned and some are signed (initialed) and dated on the back. A number of them have the artist’s writing verso regarding layout and chemicals used to develop or print the photos.
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest professional medical organization in the country. They published Baldeck’s book related to this photograph, “Bones, Books & Bell Jars, Photographs Of The Mutter Museum Collection”, and their museum, The Mutter Museum, was the venue for Baldeck’s 2012 solo museum exhibition of the same name. Andrea Baldeck became Board Chair and President of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia (and she’s a Fellow).
Baldeck’s interpretation of the Mutter Museum’s collection comes down to one thing: what it is to be human. All of Dr. Baldeck’s Mutter Museum photographs were taken in 12 weeks, between 2009-10. The pathological specimens, anatomical models, surgical instruments, illustrated textbooks and other artifacts were used by the artist to create still life photographs.
Baldeck is focused on composition, light, contours and emotion. We see beautiful contrast in her work and it’s very tactile. Depending on the photograph, the artist’s work can be abstract, disturbing and/or curious; She may make us feel the era or put things together to complete the picture or make sense of the parts. In this series, there’s always the human element, even in something that feels cold like steel medical instruments that were made by craftsmen many years ago. Mouth gags and finger protectors were used so that the doctors and nurses didn’t get bit by the patient. Works can range from the backstory of teaching to the lessening of human misery to the allegory of time revealing the truth.
Originally from Mumford, New York contemporary photographer Andrea Baldeck is based out of the Philadelphia area since the 1970’s. She earned her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, but gave up practicing medicine when she was in her early 40’s to devote herself full-time to photography.
Baldeck is a listed artist on the invaluable and mutualart sites since her work has been sold at auction by The Photo Review, etc. On the Artsy site, a still life photograph by Baldeck, “Long Stemmed Rose”, is for sale. Her gallery representation as of 2020 is or was Twenty-Two Gallery at 236 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia but she’s exhibited with other galleries such as Sande Webster and museums such as the PMA and James A. Michener Art Museum.