"Game of Chess" 1992 Platinum Photograph by Arkady Lvov

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Signed, dated (92) and numbered (3/15) by the artist in pencil. Printed on heavy deckled-edge paper with an RKB watermark; … Read more Signed, dated (92) and numbered (3/15) by the artist in pencil. Printed on heavy deckled-edge paper with an RKB watermark; Shown on a black background to highlight the deckled-edge. Sheet size: 11-1/2 x 15-1/2 inches; photograph size: 7-1/4 x 9-1/2 inches. Mint condition, from the private collection of a member of the Print Club of New York.

Platinum is a photographic process in which an image is formed by platinum, unlike in conventional photographs where it is formed by silver. The process was popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, when commercially produced platinum paper became available. Modern platinum printing is an entirely hand-made process. It begins by preparing a light sensitive solution, which contains platinum and palladium salts. This solution is brushed on to specially selected paper, dried and exposed in contact with a negative to ultra-violet light. The exposed paper is placed in developer, where metal salts are reduced back to a metallic state forming the image. It is then carried through a series of clearing baths. The print that emerges from the final wash consists of only particles of platinum permanently embedded in the fibers of the paper. Platinum emulsion has a unique response to light resulting in the most beautiful tonal range in black & white photography. Platinum resists combining with other chemicals, resulting in an extremely stable image, making it the only true archival photographic process.

Arkady Lvov (b. 1955) is a Ukranian-born photographer and printmaker now living in New York. Arkady studied at The Russian Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia and earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the Parsons School of Design, New York. His photographs are in the collections of American Express, the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, The Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and many private collections. See less