The Facts
On October 13, 2026, the Getty Research Institute detailed Accra Shepp's technique of printing portraits on plant leaves, showcased in his 2009 artist's book Atlas. The institute acquired a copy of Atlas last year and made the volume the focus of its Spring Conservation Study Day in June 2026. Shepp, who has exhibited at the Whitney Museum, the International Center of Photography, and MoMA, prints each image from a silver-gelatin plate onto a dried leaf, with printer Ed Fausty and papermaker Paul Wong of Dieu Donné Papermill assisting. All 24 copies are unique, made with different leaves.
The Signal
The conservation event signals museums' growing attention to preserving works made from fragile, organic materials, an issue collectors of artist's books now factor into value. The leaf, Shepp says, 'stands in for the earth itself,' grounding Atlas's theme of the human body as a measure of the world. Since no two copies are alike, Atlas functions less as a standard edition than as a series of singular objects, complicating both display and appraisal.
- Artists: Accra Shepp
- People: Ed Fausty, Paul Wong, Jin Lee
- Museums: Getty Research Institute, Whitney Museum, International Center of Photography, MoMA
- Locations: Los Angeles
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