Color Plates, Material, and Condition: Hermann Krone’s Contributions to Lippmann Interferential Color Photography

Abstract

Abstract Lippmann color photographs are among the rarest examples of early color photography in public and private collections worldwide. At the time, Hermann Krone was probably one of those who contributed most actively and with remarkable results to the Lippmann process. After general remarks about Krone’s work, this paper will describe more deeply his book about color photography focusing on the direct color process, the technology he practiced himself to accomplish interferential color, and the body of his Lippmann color photographs, which still exists today in major collections, and which has been recently examined by the author. With a focus on the work of Krone, the paper aims to give an overview of the variety of presentation forms of Lippmann color images in existence today and closes with information on the permanence and preservation of these early color photographic materials.