Metal Painter (1960)

High angle M/S of artist Stephan Knapp in his studio in Sandhill, Surrey with his assistant; there are some huge paintings on the wall behind them and hundreds of pots of paint on a table before them. M/Ss and C/Us as SK starts to paint on a large sheet of metal copying from an outline drawing in his hand with white porcelain enamel in a paint ball. Commentator tells us "Today he is probably the only artist who uses the rare combination of enamel and copper on such an immense scale".



The assistant is seen mixing paint and pouring it through a sieve; he hands a bowl of white paint to SK, who spoons it onto the painting, adds some yellow and green, and then hammers on the metal sheet with his fist to settle the paint before firing.



M/S as we see the sheet being lifted into a huge kiln by SK wearing large white mittens and using a kind of fork-lift trolley. We then see the fired mural being taken out and the green and yellow colours have turned to red and brown in the heat - it is obviously still very hot as SK shields his face with his mittens. Commentator says "It is in this very hot stage that the colour change which takes about 3 minutes becomes apparent", as we see the red and brown changing back to green and yellow.



Commentator: "In each work the application of enamel is repeated anything up to six or seven times, with a firing at the end of each stage so that the colour is integrated with the metal and not just a detachable film. "At a later stage in the process we see SK applying copper leaf to a mural; then the finished painting is hoisted into position as a middle panel on a huge wall mural - it is abstract but looks a bit like the outline of the USA; SK smoothes it with his fingers. C/Us of the finished painting we saw him start; interesting brown, green and blue colours in large blobs.



Note: detailed cameraman's notes on the process are on file; the large mural seen was to be exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
FILM ID:107.29

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