European research tour exhibition: ‘Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art’ at the Barbican Art Gallery, UK Part 2

Exhibition dates: 4th October, 2019 – 19th January, 2020
Visited October 2019 posted January 2020

Curator: Florence Ostende

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) 'The Ciné-bal (cinema-ballroom) at Café L'Aubette, Strasbourg, designed by Theo van Doesburg' 1926-1928 from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931)
The Ciné-bal (cinema-ballroom) at Café L’Aubette, Strasbourg, designed by Theo van Doesburg
1926-1928
Image: Collection Het Nieuwe Instituut, donation Van Moorsel, archive (code): DOES, inv.nr AB5252

 

 

Part 2 on this exceptional exhibition. Of particular interest here are:

the inspired paintings and drawings by Jeanne Mammen of Berlin nightlife which documents “the changing role of women and offer rare images of queer female desire.” Her work, associated with the New Objectivity and Symbolism movements, is incisive and sympathetic in its observation of difference and “depravity”. Her line is strong and the characterisation, assured;

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler’s “scenes of Hamburg after dark [which] convey a raw sense of possibility through bold line, clashing colour and startling imagery.” The attitude of the hands in the painting Lissy (1931, below) balanced by the simplicity of the chair at left, and the furious line and bleeding, washes of watercolour of the men at the table at right – replete with their protruding, predatory teeth – make this a compelling image.

I think I might have found myself a new art hero.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the Barbican Art Gallery for allowing me to publish the media photographs in the posting. All installation images are iPhone images © Dr Marcus Bunyan unless otherwise stated. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. See Part 1 of the posting with my comments on the exhibition.

 

 

Strasbourg L'Aubette 1928 wall text from the exhibition Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) 'The Ciné-bal (cinema-ballroom) at Café L'Aubette, Strasbourg, designed by Theo van Doesburg' 1926-1928 from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Strasbourg L'Aubette 1928 wall text Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) 'The Ciné-bal (cinema-ballroom) at Café L'Aubette, Strasbourg, designed by Theo van Doesburg' 1926-1928 from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Strasbourg: L’Aubette 1928 wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art
Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 4 October 2019 – 19 January 2020
© Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Installation views of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) 'L'Aubette: Projet de composition pour le sol du café-brasserie et du café-restaurant' (L'Aubette: Design for a composition for the floor of the café-brasserie and the café-restaurant) 1927 (installation view)

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931)
L’Aubette: Projet de composition pour le sol du café-brasserie et du café-restaurant (L’Aubette: Design for a composition for the floor of the café-brasserie and the café-restaurant) (installation view)
1927
Gouache and graphite pencil on tracing paper
Paris, Centre Pompidou – Museé national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) 'L'Aubette: Projet de composition pour le sol du café-brasserie et du café-restaurant' (L'Aubette: Design for a composition for the floor of the café-brasserie and the café-restaurant) 1927 (installation view)

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931)
L’Aubette: Projet de composition pour le sol du café-brasserie et du café-restaurant (L’Aubette: Design for a composition for the floor of the café-brasserie and the café-restaurant) (installation view)
1927
Gouache and graphite pencil on tracing paper
Paris, Centre Pompidou – Museé national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) 'Final colour design for the screen wall of the Ciné-Dancing at L'Aubette' 1927 (installation view)

 

Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931)
Final colour design for the screen wall of the Ciné-Dancing at L’Aubette (installation view)
1927
East India ink and paint on paper
Collection Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam. Gift Van Moorsel
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Theo van Doesburg Ciné-Dancing wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Theo van Doesburg Ciné-Dancing wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' (downstairs gallery, room recreation)

 

Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art (downstairs gallery, room recreation)
Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 4 October 2019 – 19 January 2020
© Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

 

Downstairs gallery, room recreation

 

Sophie Taeuber-Arp (Swiss, 1889-1943) 'Aubette 63' 1927 (installation view)

 

Sophie Taeuber-Arp (Swiss, 1889-1943)
Aubette 63 (installation view)
1927
Gouache on paper
Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Paris: Loïe Fuller 1890s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Paris: Loïe Fuller 1890s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Paris: Loïe Fuller 1890s wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Unknown photographer (attributed to Falk Studio). 'Loie Fuller' c. 1901

 

Unknown photographer (attributed to Falk Studio)
Loïe Fuller
c. 1901
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC

 

 

1895-1908 Loie Fuller’s Serpentine Dance (highlights from the greatest movie pioneers’ films)

Many of the earliest filmmakers chose Loie Fuller’s Serpentine Dance as a subject for one or more films: the Skladanowsky brothers (1895), Dickson and Heise for Edison Manifacturing Company (1895), Dickson for American Mutoscope (1896), Lumière (1896), Demeny (1897), possibly Alice Guy (1899+1900+1902), Méliès (1899), G.A. Smith (1902), De Chomon (1902+1908) and many others.

Loie Fuller was a pioneer of modern dance and of theatrical lighting effects. She developed this dance in 1891 and combined her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-colored lighting of her own design. In several of the Serpentine Dance movies her lighting has been reinterpreted through hand-colored effects. Fuller also had a successful Fire Dance of which elements are often incorporated in filmed Serpentine Dance performances (yet rarelymentioned).

It is unclear whether any performance by Loie Fuller herself has ever been filmed. Possibly all of the featured dancers are imitators, although Segundo de Chomon’s 1902 film title “Loie Fuller” makes a strong claim.

 Text from the YouTube website

Magnificent! Not Loïe Fuller but one of her many imitators. She refused to be captured on film.

 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901) 'Miss Loïe Fuller' 1893 (installation view)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901) 'Miss Loïe Fuller' 1893 (installation view)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. 'Miss Loïe Fuller' 1893 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Installation views of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901) 'Miss Loïe Fuller' 1893

 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901)
Miss Loïe Fuller
1893
Bibliothèque de l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Collections Jacques Doucet
Inv. no. NUM EM TOULOUSE-LAUTREC 49 e
Courtesy Bibliothèque de l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Collections Jacques Doucet

 

Installation view showing Jules Chéret (French, 1836-1932) 'Folies Bergere La Loie Fuller' lithographs from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Jules Chéret (French, 1836-1932) 'Fioles Bergère, La Loïe Fuller' 1893 (installation view)

 

Jules Chéret (French, 1836-1932)
Fioles Bergère, La Loïe Fuller (installation view)
1893
Lithograph
Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jules Chéret (French, 1836-1932) 'Folies Bergère, La Danse du Feu' (The Fire Dance) 1897 (installation view)

 

Jules Chéret (French, 1836-1932)
Folies Bergère, La Danse du Feu (The Fire Dance) (installation view)
1897
Lithograph
Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Paris: Chat Noir 1880s-90s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Paris: Chat Noir 1880s-90s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Paris: Chat Noir 1880s-90s wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London

 

Installation views of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Henri Rivière (French, 1864-1951) 'Poster for the performances Clairs de lune by Georges Fragerolle, L'honnête gendarme by Jean Richepin and Le treizième travail d'Hercule by Eugène Courboin (Le Chat Noir, 16 December 1896)' (installation view)

 

Henri Rivière (French, 1864-1951)
Poster for the performances Clairs de lune by Georges Fragerolle, L’honnête gendarme by Jean Richepin and Le treizième travail d’Hercule by Eugène Courboin (Le Chat Noir, 16 December 1896) (installation view)
Cliché and letterpress printing in black on wove paper on linen
58.7cm x 42.2cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing Henri Rivière and Henry Somm's shadow theatre

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing Henri Rivière and Henry Somm's shadow theatre

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing Henri Rivière and Henry Somm's shadow theatre

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing Henri Rivière and Henry Somm's shadow theatre wall text

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing Henri Rivière and Henry Somm's shadow theatre wall text

 

Installation views of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing Henri Rivière and Henry Somm’s shadow theatre and wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' (downstairs gallery, room recreation)

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' (downstairs gallery, room recreation)

 

Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art (downstairs gallery, room recreation)
Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 4 October 2019 – 19 January 2020
© Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

 

Downstairs gallery, room recreation

 

Adolphe-Leon Wilette (French, 1857-1926) 'La Vierge verte' (The Green Virgin) c. 1881 (installation view)

 

Adolphe-Leon Wilette (French, 1857-1926)
La Vierge verte (The Green Virgin) (installation view)
c. 1881
Oil on canvas
Collection Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

In this oil study for a stained-glass window exhibited inside the cabaret, the black cat is held aloft in adoration under the full moon, as though part of an occult ceremony. The ‘chat’ noir’ of the cabaret’s title was celebrated throughout its design, symbolising fierce independence as well as night-time frolics. It gazes imperiously at the onlooker from Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s famous posters, perches on a crescent moon in Adolphe-Léon Willette’s street sign, and endangers pet goldfish in humorous cartoons.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss-born French, 1859-1923) 'Réouverture du cabaret du Chat Noir' (Reopening of the Chat Noir Cabaret) 1896 (installation view)

 

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss-born French, 1859-1923)
Réouverture du cabaret du Chat Noir (Reopening of the Chat Noir Cabaret) (installation view)
1896
Lithograph
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss-born French, 1859-1923) 'Réouverture du cabaret du Chat Noir' (Reopening of the Chat Noir Cabaret) 1896

 

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss-born French, 1859-1923)
Réouverture du cabaret du Chat Noir (Reopening of the Chat Noir Cabaret)
1896
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

George Auriol (French, 1863-1938) 'Théâtre du Chat Noir (Couverture aux coquelicots)' (Programme for the Chat noir Theatre (Cover with Poppies)) 1890 (installation view)

 

George Auriol (French, 1863-1938)
Théâtre du Chat Noir (Couverture aux coquelicots) (Programme for the Chat noir Theatre (Cover with Poppies)) (installation view)
1890
Photomechanical print
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Opening 4 October 2019, Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art explores the social and artistic role of cabarets, cafés and clubs around the world. Spanning the 1880s to the 1960s, the exhibition presents a dynamic and multi-faceted history of artistic production. The first major show staged on this theme, it features both famed and little-known sites of the avant-garde – these creative spaces were incubators of radical thinking, where artists could exchange provocative ideas and create new forms of artistic expression. Into the Night offers an alternative history of modern art that highlights the spirit of experimentation and collaboration between artists, performers, designers, musicians and writers such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Loïe Fuller, Josef Hoffmann, Giacomo Balla, Theo van Doesburg and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, as well as Josephine Baker, Jeanne Mammen, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Ramón Alva de la Canal and Ibrahim El-Salahi.

Focusing on global locations from New York to Tehran, London, Paris, Mexico City, Berlin, Vienna and Ibadan, Into the Night brings together over 350 works rarely seen in the UK, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, films and archival material. Liberated from the confines of social and political norms, many of the sites provided immersive, often visceral experiences, manifesting the ideals of the artists and audiences who founded and frequented them. The exhibition features full-scale recreations of specific spaces, such as the multi-coloured ceramic tiled bar of the Cabaret Fledermaus in Vienna (1907), designed by Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte, and the striking abstract composition of the Ciné-Dancing designed by Theo van Doesburg for L’Aubette in Strasbourg (1926-1928). The exhibition will feature a soundscape created by hrm199, the studio of acclaimed artist Haroon Mirza, specifically commissioned for the show.

Jane Alison, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican, said: “Into the Night casts a spotlight on some of the most electrifying cabarets and clubs of the modern era. Whether a creative haven, intoxicating stage or liberal hangout, all were magnets for artists, designers and performers to come together, collaborate and express themselves freely. Capturing the essence of these global incubators of experimentation and cross-disciplinarity, immersive 1:1 scale interiors will take the visitor on a captivating journey of discovery.”

Into the Night begins in Paris, on the eve of the 20th century, with two thrilling and iconic locations of the avant-garde. The theatrical shadow plays of the Chat Noir in the 1880s are brought to life through original silhouettes and works that decorated the interior of the cabaret, which acted as a forum for satire and debate for figures such as founder Rodolphe Salis, artist Henri Rivière and composer Erik Satie. The captivating serpentine dances of Loïe Fuller staged at the Folies Bergère in the 1890s were trail-blazing experiments in costume, light and movement. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec captured her performances in his extraordinary series of delicately hand-coloured lithographs, brought together for the exhibition. Visitors will encounter the immersive “Gesamtkunstwerk” (total work of art) design of the Cabaret Fledermaus (1907) in Vienna by the Wiener Werkstätte, where experimental cabaret productions were staged. The exhibition includes original documentation of Oskar Kokoschka’s exuberant puppet theatre and Gertrude Barrison’s expressionist dance.

The Cave of the Golden Calf (1912), an underground haunt in Soho epitomising decadence and hedonism, is evoked through designs for the interior by British artists Spencer Gore and Eric Gill, as well as Wyndham Lewis’s highly stylised programmes for the eclectic performance evenings – advertised at the time as encompassing “the picturesque dances of the South, its fervid melodies, Parisian wit, English humour.” In Zurich, the radical atmosphere of the Cabaret Voltaire (1916) is manifested through absurdist sound poetry and fantastical masks that deconstruct body and language, evoking the anarchic performances by Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings and Marcel Janco. This is the birthplace of Dada, where humour, chaos and ridicule reign. Two significant clubs in Rome provide insights into the electrifying dynamism of Futurism in Italy in the 1920s. Giacomo Balla’s mesmerising Bal Tic Tac (1921) is summoned by colour-saturated designs for the club’s interior, capturing the swirling movement of dancers. Also on show are drawings and furnishings for Fortunato Depero’s spectacular inferno-inspired Cabaret del Diavolo (1922) which occupied three floors representing heaven, purgatory and hell. Depero’s flamboyant tapestry writhes with dancing demons, expressing the club’s motto “Tutti all’inferno!!! (Everyone to hell!!!)”.

A few years later, a group of artists and writers from the radical movement Estridentismo, including Ramón Alva de la Canal, Manuel Maples Arce and Germán Cueto, began to meet at the Café de Nadie (Nobody’s Café) in Mexico City, responding to volatile Post-Revolutionary change and the urban metropolis. The ¡30-30! group expressed its values by holding a major print exhibition (partially reassembled here) in a travelling circus tent open to all. Meanwhile in Strasbourg, Theo van Doesburg, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp worked together to create the L’Aubette (1926-1928), conceived as the ultimate “deconstruction of architecture”, with bold geometric abstraction as its guiding principle. The vast building housed a cinema-ballroom, bar, tearoom, billiards room, restaurant and more, each designed as immersive environments.

After a period of restraint in Germany during the First World War, the 1920s heralded an era of liberation and the relaxation of censorship laws. Numerous clubs and bars in metropolitan cities, such as Berlin, playing host to heady cabaret revues and daring striptease; the notorious synchronised Tiller Girls are captured in Karl Hofer’s iconic portrait. Major works by often overlooked female artists such as Jeanne Mammen and Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler, as well as George Grosz, Otto Dix and Max Beckmann, capture the pulsating energy of these nightclubs and the alternative lifestyles that flourished within them during the 1920s and 1930s. During the same time in New York, the literary and jazz scenes thrived and co-mingled in the predominantly African American neighbourhood of Harlem, where black identity was re-forged and debated. Paintings and prints by Aaron Douglas and Jacob Lawrence convey the vibrant atmosphere and complex racial and sexual politics of the time, while poetry by Langston Hughes and early cinema featuring Duke Ellington shed light on the rich range of creative expression thriving within the city.

Into the Night also celebrates the lesser known but highly influential Mbari Artists and Writers Club, founded in the early 1960s in Nigeria. Focusing on two of the club’s key locations, in Ibadan and Osogbo, the exhibition explores how they were founded as laboratories for postcolonial artistic practices, providing a platform for a dazzling range of activities – including open-air dance and theatre performances, featuring ground breaking Yoruba operas by Duro Ladipo and Fela Kuti’s Afro-jazz; poetry and literature readings; experimental art workshops; and pioneering exhibitions by African and international artists such as Colette Omogbai, Ibrahim El-Salahi and Uche Okeke. Meanwhile in Tehran, Rasht 29 emerged in1966 as a creative space for avant-garde painters, poets, musicians and filmmakers to freely discuss their practice. Spontaneous performances were celebrated and works by artists like Parviz Tanavoli and Faramarz Pilaram hung in the lounge while a soundtrack including Led Zeppelin and the Beatles played constantly.

The exhibition is curated and organised by Barbican Centre, London, in collaboration with the Belvedere, Vienna.

Press release from the Barbican Art Gallery [Online] Cited 28/12/2019

 

Berlin: Weimar Nightlife 1920s-30s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Berlin: Weimar Nightlife 1920s-30s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Berlin: Weimar Nightlife 1920s-30 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Berlin: Weimar Nightlife 1920s-30s wall text from the exhibition
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Rudolf Schlichter (German, 1890-1955) 'Damenkneipe' (Women's Club) c. 1925

 

Rudolf Schlichter (German, 1890-1955)
Damenkneipe (Women’s Club)
c. 1925
Private collection
© Viola Roehr v. Alvensleben, Munich
Photo: akg-images

 

Rudolf Schlichter (German, 1890-1955) 'Damenkneipe' (Women's Club) c. 1925 (installation view)

 

Rudolf Schlichter (German, 1890-1955)
Damenkneipe (Women’s Club) (installation view)
c. 1925
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London with Rudolf Schlichter's 'Damenkneipe' (Women's Club) c. 1925 at left, followed by work by Jeanne Mammen

 

Installation view with Rudolf Schlichter’s Damenkneipe (Women’s Club) c. 1925 at left, followed by work by Jeanne Mammen
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Bar' c. 1930 (installation view)

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Bar (installation view)
c. 1930
Ömer Koç Collection
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Bar' c. 1930

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Bar
c. 1930
Ömer Koç Collection
© DACS, 2019

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Bierseidelbetrachtung I' (The Contemplative Drinkers I) c. 1929 (installation view)

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Bierseidelbetrachtung I' (The Contemplative Drinkers I) c. 1929 (installation view detail)

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Bierseidelbetrachtung I (The Contemplative Drinkers I) (installation views)
c. 1929
Watercolour and pencil on paper
Ömer Koç Collection
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Untitled (Vor dem Auftritt)' (Before the Performance) c. 1928 (installation view)

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Untitled (Vor dem Auftritt)' (Before the Performance) c. 1928 (installation view)

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Untitled (Vor dem Auftritt) (Before the Performance) (installation views)
c. 1928
Jeanne Mammen Foundation at Stadtmuseum Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Café Nollendorf' c. 1931 (installation view)

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Café Nollendorf (installation view)
c. 1931
Watercolour and India ink over pencil
Private collection
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen’s paintings and drawings of Berlin nightlife document the changing role of women and offer rare images of queer female desire. In contrast to the bitingly satirical images characteristic of George Grosz and Max Beckmann, Mammen sympathetically portrays her mostly female figures. Café Nollendorf is one of several by Mammen published in Curt Moreck’s subversive 1931 Guide to ‘Depraved’ Berlin (shown nearby). It illustrates his account of a lesbian club for ‘open-minded’ clientele. Mammen was also a successful commercial artist, recording modern fashions and mores in popular magazines.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969) 'Anita Berber' 1925 (installation view)

 

Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969)
Anita Berber (installation view)
1925
Pastel on paper
Private collection
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Otto Dix met the 26-year-old cabaret dancer and silent film star Anita Berber in Dūsseldorf in 1925. Berber was among the most provocative performers of her time, appearing at major Berlin venues like the Wintergarten and the Apollo, as well as the political cabaret Schall und Rauch and the lesbian club Topkeller. In her notorious dance ‘Cocaine’, accompanied by Camille Saint-Saëns’ Valse mignonne (1896), Berber played a sex worker and addict, wearing a leather corset with her breast exposed. Simulating trembles of pain, she dances spasms of hallucination before collapsing on the floor. Despite her theatrical makeup, Dix’s portrait offers a more intimate side of Berber.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing on the left, the work of Dodo Burgner and on the right, the work of George Grosz

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing on the left, the work of Dodo Burgner and on the right, the work of George Grosz.
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Dodo (Dodo Burgner, German, 1927-1933) 'Revue neger (Josephine Baker)' c. 1926 (installation view)

 

Dodo (Dodo Burgner, German, 1927-1933)
Revue neger (Josephine Baker) (installation view)
c. 1926
Gouache over pencil on cardboard
Collection Krümmer, Hamburg
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Dodo (Dodo Burgner, German, 1927-1933) 'The Fortune Teller', published in 'ULK' February 1929 (installation view)

Dodo (Dodo Burgner, German, 1927-1933) 'The Fortune Teller', published in 'ULK' February 1929 (installation view)

 

Dodo (Dodo Burgner, German, 1927-1933)
The Fortune Teller, published in ULK (installation views)
February 1929
Gouache over pencil on cardboard
Collection Krümmer, Hamburg
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959) 'Schönheit, dich will ich preisen' (Beauty, Thee Will I Praise) 1923 (installation view)

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959) 'Schönheit, dich will ich preisen' (Beauty, Thee Will I Praise) 1923 (installation view)

 

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959)
Schönheit, dich will ich preisen (Beauty, Thee Will I Praise) (installation views)
1923
Offset lithograph
Publisher: Malik-Verlag, Berlin
Printer: Kunstanstalt Dr. Selle & Co. A.G. Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler's 'Ausblick im Nachtlokal' (View of a Nightclub) 1930

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler’s Ausblick im Nachtlokal (View of a Nightclub) 1930
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Ausblick im Nachtlokal' (View of a Nightclub) 1930 (installation view)

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Ausblick im Nachtlokal' (View of a Nightclub) 1930 (installation view)

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940)
Ausblick im Nachtlokal (View of a Nightclub) (installation view)
1930
Pastel on paper
Private collection, Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler 'Ausblick im Nachtlokal' (View of a Nightclub) wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler Ausblick im Nachtlokal (View of a Nightclub) wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Ausblick im Nachtlokal' (View of a Nightclub) 1930

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940)
Ausblick im Nachtlokal (View of a Nightclub)
1930
Private collection, Berlin

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler's 'Lissy' (1931) and at right, Karl Hofer's 'Tiller Girls' (before 1927)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, showing at left, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler’s Lissy (1931) and at right, Karl Hofer’s Tiller Girls (before 1927)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Lissy' 1931 (installation view)

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Lissy' 1931 (installation view)

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Lissy' 1931 (installation view)

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940) 'Lissy' 1931 (installation view detail)

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (German, 1899-1940)
Lissy (installation views)
1931
Watercolour and pencil on paper
Private collection. Courtesy Städel Museum, Frankfurt
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (born Anna Frieda Wächtler; 4 December 1899 – 31 July 1940) was a German painter of the avant-garde whose works were banned as “degenerate art”, and in some cases destroyed, in Nazi Germany. She was murdered in a former psychiatric institution at Sonnenstein castle in Pirna under Action T4, a forced euthanasia program of Nazi Germany. Since 2000, a memorial centre for the T4 program in the house commemorates her life and work in a permanent exhibition.

Life

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler grew up in a middle-class family, but left at the age of 16 to study at the Royal Arts School Dresden from 1915 to 1918 (fashion, then applied graphics). From 1916 to 1919, she also attended drawing and painting courses at the Dresden Art Academy. She came into contact with the Dresden Secession Group 1919 and became part of the circle of friends around Otto Dix, Otto Griebel, and Conrad Felixmüller. Renting part of the studio of the latter near the Dresden city center she made a living with batiks, postcards and illustrations.

In June 1921, she married the painter and opera singer Kurt Lohse [de], following him to Görlitz in 1922 and in 1925 to Hamburg. The marriage was a difficult one and the couple separated several times in the following years. In 1926, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler joined the Federation of female Hamburgian artists and art lovers; in 1928. she was able to participate in some exhibitions of the New Objectivity.

In 1929, she suffered a nervous breakdown because of financial and partnership difficulties and was committed to a psychiatric institution in Hamburg-Friedrichsberg. During the two months’ stay she painted the Friedrichsberg heads, a piece of work consisting of about 60 drawings and pastels, mainly portraits of fellow patients. After her recovery and a final separation from Kurt Lohse (in 1926), she had a very creative phase. She painted numerous paintings of Hamburg’s harbor, scenes from the life of workers and prostitutes, and pitiless self-portraits. But despite some exhibitions, sales, and smaller grants, she lived in grinding poverty.

Due to financial problems and increasing social isolation, she returned to her parents’ home in Dresden by midyear 1931. When her mental state worsened her father admitted her to the state mental home at Arnsdorf in 1932. There she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. From 1932 to 1935 she was still creatively active, drawing portraits and creating arts and crafts. After Kurt Lohse divorced her in May 1935 she was incapacitated due to “incurable insanity”.

After refusing to consent to a sterilisation, she was denied the permission to go out of the hospital any more. In December 1935, she underwent a forced surgical sterilisation in the Dresden-Friedrichstadt women’s hospital on the grounds of Nazi eugenicist policies. After this traumatic event she never painted again. In 1940 she was deported to the former psychiatric institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein (located in the Sonnenstein castle in Pirna), where, on 31 July, she was murdered along with the majority of the other residents as part of the Nazi “euthanasia” program, Action T4. The official cause of death was “pneumonia with myocardial insufficiency”. In the years of 1940 and 1941, a total of 13,720 mainly mentally ill or handicapped people were gassed by Nazis in this institution formerly well known for its humanistic traditions.

Text from the Wikipedia website

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Karl Hofer's 'Tiller Girls' (before 1927)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Karl Hofer’s Tiller Girls (before 1927)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Karl Hofer. 'Tiller Girls' before 1927 (installation view)

 

Karl Hofer (German, 1878-1955)
Tiller Girls (installation view)
before 1927
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Karl Hofer (German, 1878-1955) 'Tiller Girls' before 1927

 

Karl Hofer (German, 1878-1955)
Tiller Girls
before 1927
Kunsthalle Emden – Stiftung Henri und Eske Nannen
© Elke Walford, Fotowerkstatt Hamburg

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into The Night: Cabarets And Clubs In Modern Art' showing at left, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler's 'Lissy' (1931); and at centre, Karl Hofer's 'Tiller Girls' (before 1927)

 

Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art
Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 4 October 2019 – 19 January 2020 showing at left, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler’s Lissy (1931, above); and at centre, Karl Hofer’s Tiller Girls (before 1927, above)
© Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Karl Hofer's 'Tiller Girls' (before 1927); and at third from left, Erna Schmidt-Caroll's 'Chansonette' (Singer) (c. 1928)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Karl Hofer’s Tiller Girls (before 1927, above); and at third from left, Erna Schmidt-Caroll’s Chansonette (Singer) (c. 1928, below)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Erna Schmidt-Caroll (German, 1896-1964) 'Chansonette' (Singer) c. 1928 (installation view)

Erna Schmidt-Caroll (German, 1896-1964) 'Chansonette' (Singer) c. 1928 (installation view)

 

Erna Schmidt-Caroll (German, 1896-1964)
Chansonette (Singer) (installation views)
c. 1928
Private collection
© Estate Erna Schmidt-Caroll
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Erna Schmidt-Caroll (German, 1896-1964) 'Chansonette' (Singer) c. 1928

 

Erna Schmidt-Caroll (German, 1896-1964)
Chansonette (Singer)
c. 1928
Private collection
© Estate Erna Schmidt-Caroll

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing the work of George Grosz and Max Beckmann

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing the work of George Grosz and Max Beckmann
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959) 'Menschen in Cáfe' (People in a Cáfe) 1917 (installation view)

 

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959)
Menschen in Cáfe (People in a Cáfe) (installation view)
1917
Black ink and pen on paper
On loan from the Trustees of the British Museum
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Max Beckmann (German, 1884-1950) 'Nackttanz' (Striptease), from 'Berliner Reise' (Trip to Berlin) 1922 (installation view)

 

Max Beckmann (German, 1884-1950)
Nackttanz (Striptease), from Berliner Reise (Trip to Berlin) (installation view)
1922
Lithograph, one from a portfolio of eleven (including cover)
Publisher: J.B. Neumann, Berlin
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Sie reprasentiert!' (She Represents!), published in 'Simplicissimus' vol. 32, no 47, February 1928

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Sie reprasentiert! (She Represents!), published in Simplicissimus vol. 32, no 47, February 1928
Printed magazine
Jeanne Mammen Foundation at Stadtmuseum Berlin
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Maskenball' (Masked Ball), published in 'Jugend' vol. 34, no 5, January 1929

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Maskenball (Masked Ball), published in Jugend vol. 34, no 5, January 1929
Printed magazine
Jeanne Mammen Foundation at Stadtmuseum Berlin
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976) 'Fasting' (Carnival), published in Simplicissimus vol. 34, no 46, February 1930

 

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976)
Fasting (Carnival), published in Simplicissimus vol. 34, no 46, February 1930
Printed magazine
Jeanne Mammen Foundation at Stadtmuseum Berlin
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Unknown photographer. 'Slide on the Razor', performance as part of the Haller Revue 'Under and Over', Berlin, 1923

 

Unknown photographer
‘Slide on the Razor’, performance as part of the Haller Revue ‘Under and Over’, Berlin, 1923
Courtesy Feral House

 

Ibadan & Osogbo Mbari Clubs 1961-66 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Ibadan & Osogbo Mbari Clubs 1961-66 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Ibadan & Osogbo Mbari Clubs 1961-66 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Ibadan & Osogbo Mbari Clubs 1961-66 wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Twins Seven-Seven 'Devil's Dog' (1964) and at right, Twins Seven-Seven 'THE BEAUTIFUL LADY and THE FULLBODIED GENTLEMAN THAT REDUCED TO HEAD' (1967)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Twins Seven-Seven Devil’s Dog (1964) and at right, Twins Seven-Seven THE BEAUTIFUL LADY and THE FULLBODIED GENTLEMAN THAT REDUCED TO HEAD (1967)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Twins Seven-Seven. 'Devil's Dog' (1964) (installation view detail)

 

Twins Seven-Seven
Devil’s Dog (installation view detail)
1964
Ink, gouache and varnish  on paper
Iwalewahaus, Universitat Bayreuth
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Twins Seven-Seven. 'THE BEAUTIFUL LADY and THE FULLBODIED GENTLEMAN THAT REDUCED TO HEAD' 1967 (installation view)

Twins Seven-Seven. 'THE BEAUTIFUL LADY and THE FULLBODIED GENTLEMAN THAT REDUCED TO HEAD' 1967  (installation view)

 

Twins Seven-Seven
THE BEAUTIFUL LADY and THE FULLBODIED GENTLEMAN THAT REDUCED TO HEAD (installation views)
1967
Gouache on paper
Iwalewahaus, Universitat Bayreuth
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Muraina Oyelami's 'Burial Ground (1967) with Georgina Beier's 'Gelede' (1966) third from right

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at left, Muraina Oyelami’s Burial Ground (1967) with Georgina Beier’s Gelede (1966) third from right
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Muraina Oyelami (Nigerian, b. 1940) 'Burial Ground' 1967 (installation view)

Muraina Oyelami (Nigerian, b. 1940) 'Burial Ground' 1967 (installation view)

Muraina Oyelami (Nigerian, b. 1940) 'Burial Ground' 1967 (installation view detail)

 

Muraina Oyelami (Nigerian, b. 1940)
Burial Ground (installation views)
1967
Oil on board
Collection of M.K. Wolford
Photos:
Marcus Bunyan

 

Georgina Beier (British, 1938-2021) 'Gelede' 1966 (installation view)

 

Georgina Beier (British, 1938-2021)
Gelede (installation view)
1966
Woodcut
Iwalewahaus, Universitat Bayreuth
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at second left, Valente Malangatana Ngwenya's 'Untitled' (1961)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London showing at second left, Valente Malangatana Ngwenya’s Untitled (1961)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Valente Malangatana Ngwenya (Mozambican, 1936-2011) 'Untitled' 1961 (installation view)

Valente Malangatana Ngwenya (Mozambican, 1936-2011) 'Untitled' 1961 (installation view)

 

Valente Malangatana Ngwenya (Mozambican, 1936-2011)
Untitled (installation views)
1961
Oil on canvas
Iwalewahaus, Universität Bayreuth
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

The programme at the Mbari clubs was highly international: in addition to artists from across Africa, those from Europe, the Caribbean and the UA (particularly African Americans) were often invited to participate. When Mozambican artist Malangatana exhibited in Ibadan in 1962, Uli Beier’s accompanying text described his work as ‘wild and powerful but it is more than that. Far from being repelled by the scenes of horror, we are brought under an irresistible spell. For Malangatana’s work also contains a strong element of human sympathy and suffering and agony… he is full of stories. The artist was closely involved in the struggle against Portuguese rule in Mozambique and many of his works can be seen as allegories of colonial oppression.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Colette Omogbai (Nigeria, b. 1942) 'Agony' 1963 (installation view)

 

Colette Omogbai (Nigeria, b. 1942)
Agony (installation view)
1963
Oil on hardboard
Iwalewahaus, Universität Bayreuth
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Collete Omogbai held her first solo exhibition at the Mbari club in Ibadan in 1963, while still a student. Deconstructing the body ith saturated colours and jagged shapes, Agony conveys great emotional intensity. Omogbai’s highly expressive forms reflect the modernist ideas advocated in her 1965 manifesto, ‘Man Loves What is “Sweet” and Obvious’, in which she parodied mainstream taste: “‘Give us reality’, Man proclaims, ‘if possible, the reality as real as that of Bouguereau… No touch of black’.” Like many of the works in this section, it was acquired by Mbari founder Ulli Beier and later entered the collection of the University of Bayreuth in Germany.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Colette Omogbai (Nigeria, b. 1942) 'Agony' c. 1963

 

Colette Omogbai (Nigeria, b. 1942)
Agony
c. 1963
Iwalewahaus|DEVA, University of Bayreuth
© Colette Omogbai

 

Twins Seven-Seven. 'Untitled (Devil's Dog)' 1964 (installation view)

Twins Seven-Seven. 'Untitled (Devil's Dog)' 1964 (installation view detail)

 

Twins Seven-Seven
Untitled (Devil’s Dog) (installation views)
1964
Iwalewahaus, Universität Bayreuth
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Twins Seven-Seven 'Devil's Dog' wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Devil’s Dog wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Twins Seven-Seven. 'Untitled (Devil's Dog)' 1964

 

Twins Seven-Seven
Untitled (Devil’s Dog)
1964
Iwalewahaus, Universität Bayreuth
© DACS, 2019. Courtesy DEVA|Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth and CBCIU, Oshogbo

 

Interior courtyard of the Mbari Artists' and Writers' Club, Ibadan, with murals by Uche Okeke © Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Osogbo, Oshun State, Nigeria / Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth, Germany

 

Interior courtyard of the Mbari Artists’ and Writers’ Club, Ibadan, with murals by Uche Okeke
© Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Osogbo, Oshun State, Nigeria / Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth, Germany

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into The Night: Cabarets And Clubs In Modern Art'

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into The Night: Cabarets And Clubs In Modern Art'

 

Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art
Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 4 October 2019 – 19 January 2020
© Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs
Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs
Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs and wall text

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs and wall text

 

Installation views of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the publishing output of the Mbari clubs and wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

London Cave of the Golden Calf wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

London Cave of the Golden Calf wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

London Cave of the Golden Calf wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Spencer Gore (British, 1878-1914) 'Design for Tiger Hunting Mural in the Cabaret Theatre Club' 1912 (installation view)

 

Spencer Gore (British, 1878-1914)
Design for Tiger Hunting Mural in the Cabaret Theatre Club (installation view)
1912
Oil and pencil on card
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Spencer Gore (British, 1878-1914) 'Design for Deer Hunting Mural in the Cabaret Theatre Club 1912' (installation view)

 

Spencer Gore (British, 1878-1914)
Design for Deer Hunting Mural in the Cabaret Theatre Club (installation view)
1912
Oil and chalk on paper
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

None of the original decorations from the Cave of the Golden Calf survive except for Eric Gill’s carved bull calf. Contemporaneous reports, however, describe their collective impact as intense, conveying a hedonistic energy. Gore’s murals depicted an Arcadian hunt, with frisking tigers and deep portrayed in glowing colours. The Times recounted ‘mural decorations representing we should not care to say what precise stage beyond impressionism – they would easily, however, turn into appalling goblins after a little too much supper in the cave’. The artists then at the forefront of modernism in Britain, were dubbed ‘Troglodytes’ or ‘Cave-dwellers’ by the press.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the works by Wyndham Lewis

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery showing some of the works by Wyndham Lewis (below)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957) 'Kermesse' 1912 (installation view)

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957) 'Kermesse' 1912 (installation view)

 

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957)
Kermesse (installation views)
1912
Gouache, watercolour, pen and black ink, black wash and graphite on paper
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Wyndham Lewis designed the cabaret’s programme and posted as well as some of its interior decorations, which are now lost. His large oil painting, Kermesse (1912), whose dynamic figures evoked a carnival spirit hung on the club’s wall; only this drawing now survives. Along with other British modernist contemporaries, Lewis was fascinated by dance during this period, producing multiple works that may have been inspired by the cabaret’s ‘exotic’ programme.

Wall text

 

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957) 'Drop curtain design' 1912 (installation view)

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957) 'Drop curtain design' 1912 (installation view)

 

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957)
Drop curtain design (installation views)
1912
Pencil, black in and watercolour on paper
V&A Theatre and Performance, London
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957) 'Indian Dance' 1912 (installation view)

 

Wyndham Lewis (English, 1882-1957)
Indian Dance (installation view)
1912
Chalk and watercolour on paper
Tate, Purchased 1955
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Harlem Jazz Clubs and Cabarets 1920s-40s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Harlem Jazz Clubs and Cabarets 1920s-40s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Harlem Jazz Clubs and Cabarets 1920s-40s wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Harlem Jazz Clubs and Cabarets 1920s-1940s wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing at left, Jacob Lawrence's 'Vaudeville' (1951); at second left, William H, Johnson's 'Jitterbugs (III)' (c. 1941); at second right, William H, Johnson's 'Jitterbugs (II)' (c. 1941); and at right, Edward Burra's 'Savoy Ballroom, Harlem' (1934)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery showing at left in the bottom image, Jacob Lawrence’s Vaudeville (1951); at second left, William H, Johnson’s Jitterbugs (III) (c. 1941); at second right, William H, Johnson’s Jitterbugs (II) (c. 1941); and at right, Edward Burra’s Savoy Ballroom, Harlem (1934)
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000) 'Vaudeville' 1951 (installation view)

Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000) 'Vaudeville' 1951 (installation view)

 

Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000)
Vaudeville (installation view)
1951
Egg tempera and pencil on Fibreboard
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

in this work, Lawrence pays tribute to his formative experiences watching vaudeville performances at the Apollo Theater as a young man during the Harlem renaissance. He later recalled, ‘I wanted a staccato-type thing – raw, sharp, rough – that’s what I tried to get’. The vibrant composition reveals Lawrence’s virtuoso handling of colour and form. The patterned backdrop comprises circles, triangles and organic forms in myriad colours, interlocking to create a syncopated, rhythmic effect. In contrast to their carnivalesque costumes and the comedic nature of vaudeville, the figure bear sorrowful expressions, perhaps reflecting the ‘melancholy-comic’ mood that contemporary Harlem writer Claude McKay identified as central to the black American experience.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

William H. Johnson (American, 1901-1970) 'Jitterbugs (III)' c. 1941 (installation view)

 

William H. Johnson (American, 1901-1970)
Jitterbugs (III) (installation view)
c. 1941
Oil on plywood
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

William H. Johnson (American, 1901-1970) 'Jitterbugs (II)' c. 1941 (installation view)

 

William H. Johnson (American, 1901-1970)
Jitterbugs (II) (installation view)
c. 1941
Oil on paperboard
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Edward Burra (English, 1905-1976) 'Savoy Ballroom, Harlem' 1934 (installation view)

Edward Burra (English, 1905-1976) 'Savoy Ballroom, Harlem' 1934 (installation view)

 

Edward Burra (English, 1905-1976)
Savoy Ballroom, Harlem (installation views)
1934
Gouache and watercolour on paper
Omer Koc Collection
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979) 'Dance' c. 1930 (installation view)

 

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979)
Dance (installation view)
c. 1930
Gouache on illustration board
Collection of Dr Anita White
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979) 'Dance' c. 1930

 

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979)
Dance
c. 1930
© Heirs of Aaron Douglas/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2019

 

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979) 'Untitled (Dancers and Cityscape)' c. 1928 (installation view)

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979) 'Untitled (Dancers and Cityscape)' c. 1928 (installation view)

 

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979)
Untitled (Dancers and Cityscape) (installation views)
c. 1928
Ink on paper
Private collection
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Tehran Rasht 29 1966-69 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

Tehran Rasht 29 1966-69 wall text from the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery, Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Tehran Rasht 29 1966-69 wall text
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery showing the Tehran Rasht 29 1966-69 section

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery

Installation view of the exhibition 'Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery

 

Installation views of the exhibition Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican Art Gallery showing the Tehran Rasht 29 1966-69 section
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Kamran Diba (Iranian, b. 1937) 'I'm a Clever Waterman' 1966 (installation view)

 

Kamran Diba (Iranian, b. 1937)
I’m a Clever Waterman (installation view)
1966
Lithograph (reproduction of lost painting)
Collection Kamran Diba
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

I’m a Clever Waterman was first created during a performance by artist and architect Kamran Diba and his contemporaries, which combined movement and live music with live painting. Faramarz Pilaram added the calligraphic text, which includes the work’s enigmatic title and the number 29, reflecting the importance of the Rasht 29 club to their artistic circle. The painting was shown at the bar area at Rasht but was lost during the 1979 Iranian Revolution: only the print survives now.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Kamran Diba (Iranian, b. 1937) 'I'm a Clever Waterman' 1966

 

Kamran Diba (Iranian, b. 1937)
I’m a Clever Waterman
1966
Collection Kamran Diba
© Kamran Diba

 

Leyl Matine-Daftary (Iranian, 1937-2007) 'Still-life' 1962 (installation view)

 

Leyl Matine-Daftary (Iranian, 1937-2007)
Still-life (installation view)
1962
Oil on canvas
Mohammed Afkhami Collection
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937) 'Heech and Hands' 1964

 

Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937)
Heech and Hands
1964
Collection Parviz Tanavoli
© Parviz Tanavoli

 

Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937) 'Cage, cage, cage' 1966 (repaired 2009) (installation view)

 

Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937)
Cage, cage, cage (installation view)
1966 (repaired 2009)
Wood, metal, feather, glass, paint and light
Tate
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937) 'Boohoo, boohoo, boohoo, or her, or a gazelle' 1966 (installation view)

 

Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937)
Boohoo, boohoo, boohoo, or her, or a gazelle (installation view)
1966
Wood, paint, plexiglass and metal
Collection Parviz Tanavoli
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Throughout the 1960s Iran’s economy was rapidly industrialising. Tanavoli began incorporating found industrial elements into his work, scouring welding shops, blacksmiths, potteries and street vendors for salvage. Boohoo, boohoo, boohoo, or her, or a gazelle, which was shown at Rasht 29, incorporates the decorative grille motif that recurs in the artists work. Playfully juxtaposed with elements from pop culture, the grille alludes to the traditional design of a saqqakhaneh, the sacred commemorative water fountains from which the artistic community took its name.

Wall text from the exhibition

 

Faramarz Pilaram (Iranian, 1937-1982) 'Untitled (Composition 8)' c. 1960-65 (installation view)

 

Faramarz Pilaram (Iranian, 1937-1982)
Untitled (Composition 8) (installation view)
c. 1960-1965
Ink, metallic paint and acrylic on paper
Mohammed Afkhami Collection
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

 

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European photographic research tour exhibition: ‘Robert Frank. Unseen’ at C/O Berlin

Exhibition dates: 13th September – 30th November, 2019
Visited September 2019 posted January 2020

 

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Utopian dreaming / dystopian dreams

Synchronicity… when I visited this exhibition on the 16th September 2019, the grand man had only died the previous week on the 9th September 2019.

This was a fabulous exhibition of mainly VINTAGE prints (see labels) at C/O Berlin, with the added bonus of seeing many Robert Frank photographs I had never seen before.

Thoughts

1/ The vintage prints were much larger than I had thought they would be

2/ The English photographs were very impressive. A similar tonal range to Josef Sudek’s prints in these works i.e. no hard blacks or whites zones 2.5-8

3/ The Americans – to actually see a large vintage print of the Trolley Car was incredible. The Black American man’s face was only his mouth, nose and eyes, the rest was completely dark

4/ The vintage prints seemed more whimsical than the later prints: not so much contrast. Sometimes edges bleed off, grain was large, depth of field low, skylines askew. Frank loved his silhouettes and chiaroscuro


It was a great pleasure to see these iconic photographs together in one place. Several times I had to catch my breath as one famous image followed another. But then there were images I had never seen before. Mostly vintage prints as well… as close to Frank’s original vision as you can get. More poetic, more spontaneous, than the later prints. The United States photographs form a road trip of impressions, a reflective and elegiac poem to the American dream.

It’s not often that you can say that an artist changed how we see and interpret the world but that is the case. Through his seminal work The Americans, Frank’s importance to the history of photography and visual culture cannot be denied. Americans didn’t like the mirror that was held up to their society by an outsider, a European Jew. Frank certainly wasn’t afraid to picture the underbelly of America – a phlegmatic portrait of a disaffected and divided country that still has great relevance today.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


All installation photographs © Marcus Bunyan. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing photographs titled 'Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz' (1949)

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing photographs titled 'Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz' (1949)

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing photographs titled Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz (1949). Later silver gelatin prints. No individual titles. Donation of the artist.
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz' 1949 (installation view) at the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz' 1949 (installation view) at the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz' 1949 (installation view) at the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Landsgemeinde / Cantonal Assembly Hundwil, Schweiz (installation views)
1949
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Peru' 1948 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Peru (installation view)
1948
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Collection Fotomuseum Winterthur
Permanent loan of the Volkart Stiftung
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

'Robert Frank. Unseen' wall text

 

Robert Frank. Unseen wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Geneva' 1945 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Geneva (installation view)
1945
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Geneva' 1945 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Geneva (installation view)
1945
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Geneva' 1944-45 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Geneva (installation view)
1944-1945
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'New York' c. 1949

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
New York
c. 1949
Vintage silver gelatin print
Donation of the artist

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Times Square, New York' 1949 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Times Square, New York (installation view)
1949
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

'Robert Frank. Unseen' wall text

 

Robert Frank. Unseen wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Portfolio. 40 Photos' 1941-46 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Portfolio. 40 Photos' 1941-46 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Portfolio. 40 Photos (installation views)
1941-1946
First Edition Steidl, Göttingen, 2000
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Mississippi, St Louis' 1948 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Mississippi, St Louis (installation view)
1948
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Paris' 1949 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Paris (installation view)
1949
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Paris' 1949 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Paris (installation view)
1949
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Mary and Pablo, New York' 1951 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Mary and Pablo, New York' 1951 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Mary and Pablo, New York (installation views)
1951
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Robert Frank (b. 1924 in Zurich, d. 2019 in Nova Scotia, Canada) traveled thousands of kilometres between America’s East and West coasts, taking almost 30,000 photographs. Just 83 black-and-white pictures from this mixture of diary, social portrait, and photographic road movie have influenced generations of photographers after him. Frank’s book The Americans was first published in Paris before it was released in the United States in 1959 with an introduction by the Beat novelist Jack Kerouac. Oblique angles, cropped figures, and blurred movement became the hallmarks of a new photographic style that would change the course of postwar photography. In 1985, Franks photographs have been displayed in Germany for the first time – in the Amerika Haus in Berlin. Now, C/O Berlin presents contact sheets, first editions, and vintage material from the photographer’s early work at the same place. His time in Switzerland, travels through Europe and South America, and unpublished pictures from the United States in the 1950s will be shown together with famous classic photos from The Americans.

Robert Frank. Unseen reveals the narrative power of a visual language that Frank developed long before it earned him international recognition.

The exhibition was organised in cooperation with the Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur.

Robert Frank was born in Zurich in 1924. A trained photographer, he traveled to New York for the first time in 1947, where he found a position at the Harper’s Bazaar photo studio. He worked between Europe and the US for several years and in 1950, Edward Steichen invited him to participate in the 51 American Photographers exhibition at Museum of Modern Art, New York. Frank freelanced for Life, McCall’s, Look, Vogue and other magazines. In 1955, he was the first European to receive a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship that funded a comprehensive photo series for which he traveled across America. The result was the seminal photobook The Americans (1959). Following the volume’s unexpected success, the photographer turned to film. His later work juxtaposed Polaroids and autobiographical text fragments. This year Frank published his most recent book, Good Days Quiet, at the age of 95. Frank’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, most recently at Les Rencontres d’Arles (2018); Albertina, Vienna (2018); Art Institute of Chicago (2017); Museum Folkwang, Essen (2014); and at Tate Modern, London (2004). His films were shown at C/O Berlin in 2009. Robert Frank lived in New York and in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he died on September 9, 2019.

Text from the C/O Berlin [Online] Cited 28/12/2019

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at bottom, photographs of London
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
London (installation view)
1951
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Paris' 1949 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Paris (installation view)
1949
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at right a photograph of London
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
London (installation view)
1951
Vintage gelatin silver print
Arnold Kübler Archive
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
London
1951
Vintage gelatin silver print
Arnold Kübler Archive

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
London (installation views)
1951
Gelatin silver photographs, later prints
Permanent loan of the Friends of the Fotostiftung Schweiz
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'London' 1951

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
London
1951
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Permanent loan of the Friends of the Fotostiftung Schweiz

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Paris' 1952

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Paris
1952
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist

 

America

 

'Robert Frank. Unseen' wall text

 

Robert Frank. Unseen wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing at left, 'Nevada' (1956); at second left, 'Los Angeles' (1956); and at right, 'On the road to Carolina' (1955)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at left, Nevada (1956); at second left, Los Angeles (1956); and at right, On the road to Carolina (1955)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019) 'Nevada' 1956 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
Nevada (installation view)
1956
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Los Angeles' 1956 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
Los Angeles (installation view)
1956
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'On the road to Carolina' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
On the road to Carolina (installation view)
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Route US 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho' 1956 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Route US 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho' 1956 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Route US 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho (installation views)
1956
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'U.S. 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho' 1956

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Route US 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho
1956
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing at left, 'Florida' (1956); at third left, 'New York City' (early 1950s); and at right, 'Ranch Market, Hollywood' (1955-1956)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at left, Florida (1956); at third left, New York City (early 1950s); and at right, Ranch Market, Hollywood (1955-1956)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'New York City' early 1950s (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
New York City (installation view)
early 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver photograph
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Florida' 1956 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
Florida (installation view)
1956
Gelatin silver print
Swiss Foundation for Photography Collection, Winterthur
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Florida' 1956

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
Florida
1956
Gelatin silver print
© Robert Frank
Courtesy Swiss Foundation for Photography Collection, Winterthur

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'New York City' early 1950s (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
New York City (installation view)
early 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver photograph
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing at left, 'Bar – Gallup, New Mexico' (1955) and at right, 'Rodeo – New York City' (1954)

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at left, Bar – Gallup, New Mexico (1955) and at right, Rodeo – New York City (1954)
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Rodeo - New York City' 1954 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Rodeo - New York City' 1954 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Rodeo – New York City (installation views)
1954
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Rodeo – New York City' 1954

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Rodeo – New York City
1954
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing at right, 'Charity Ball, New York' 1954

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at right, Charity Ball, New York 1954
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Charity Ball, New York' 1954 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Charity Ball, New York' 1954 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019)
Charity Ball, New York (installation views)
1954
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Charity Ball, New York' 1954

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Charity Ball, New York
1954
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin showing at left 'Bar – New York' (1955) followed by, 'Yom Kippur – East River, New York City' (1954)

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at left in the bottom photograph, Bar – New York (1955) followed by, Yom Kippur – East River, New York City (1954)
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Los Angeles' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Los Angeles (installation view)
1955
Vintage gelatin silver photograph
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Los Angeles' 1955

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Los Angeles
1955
Vintage gelatin silver photograph
Donation of the artist

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Wanamaker Fire, 10th Street East, New York' 1956 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Wanamaker Fire, 10th Street East, New York (installation view)
1956
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Bar - New York' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Bar – New York (installation view)
1955
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Bar, New York City' 1955-1956

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Bar – New York
1955
Gelatin silver photograph, later print
Donation of the artist

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Yom Kippur - East River, New York City' 1954 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Yom Kippur – East River, New York City (installation view)
1954
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'USA' 1950s (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
USA (installation view)
1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Contact Sheet 62 / Factory, Detroit' 1955 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Contact Sheet 62 / Factory, Detroit' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Contact Sheet 62 / Factory, Detroit (installation views)
1955
From The Americans. 81 Contact Sheets.
Yugensha, Tokyo/Motomura Kazuhiko, 2009
Private Collection
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Contact Sheet 31 / U.S. 91, Leaving Blackfoot, Idaho' 1956 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Contact Sheet 31 / U.S. 91, Leaving Blackfoot, Idaho' 1956 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Contact Sheet 31 / U.S. 91, Leaving Blackfoot, Idaho (installation views)
1956
From The Americans. 81 Contact Sheets.
Yugensha, Tokyo/Motomura Kazuhiko, 2009
Private Collection
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Contact Sheet 18 / Trolley, New Orleans' 1955 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Contact Sheet 18 / Trolley, New Orleans' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Contact Sheet 18 / Trolley, New Orleans (installation views)
1955
From The Americans. 81 Contact Sheets.
Yugensha, Tokyo/Motomura Kazuhiko, 2009
Private Collection
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing wall text
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Bryant Park, New York' around 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Bryant Park, New York (installation view)
around 1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) '42nd Street, New York' early 1950s (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
42nd Street, New York (installation view)
early 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) '41st Street and 7th Avenue' 1953 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
41st Street and 7th Avenue (installation view)
1953
Vintage gelatin silver print
Donation of the artist
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Les Américans' book cover (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Les Américans' pages (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Les Américans book cover and pages (installation views)
1958
Delpire. Paris

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Gli Americani' book cover (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Gli Americani book cover (installation view)
1959

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'The Americans' book cover (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'The Americans' pages (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
The Americans book cover and pages (installation views)
1959
Grove Press, New York

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Trolley - New Orleans' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Trolley – New Orleans (installation view)
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Trolley - New Orleans' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Trolley – New Orleans (installation view)
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Trolley, New Orleans' 1955

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Trolley – New Orleans
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

 

Installation view of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at left, 'Parade – Hoboken, New Jersey' (1955) and at right, 'City Fathers – Hoboken, New Jersey' (1955)

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin showing at left, Parade – Hoboken, New Jersey (1955) and at right, City Fathers – Hoboken, New Jersey (1955)
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Parade - Hoboken, New Jersey' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Parade – Hoboken, New Jersey (installation view)
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photo: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'City Fathers - Hoboken, New Jersey' 1955 (installation view)

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'City Fathers - Hoboken, New Jersey' 1955 (installation view)

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
City Fathers – Hoboken, New Jersey (installation views)
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'City fathers – Hoboken, New Jersey' 1955

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
City Fathers – Hoboken, New Jersey
1955
Vintage gelatin silver print
Property of the Confédération Suisse, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

Installation view of the exhibition 'Robert Frank. Unseen' at C/O Berlin

 

Installation views of the exhibition Robert Frank. Unseen at C/O Berlin
Photos: Marcus Bunyan

 

 

C/O Berlin Foundation, Amerika Haus,
Hardenbergstraße 22–24, 10623 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 2844416 62

Opening hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

C/O Berlin website

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Exhibition: ‘Peter Hujar: Speed of Life’ at Jeu de Paume, Paris

Exhibition dates: 15th October, 2019 – 19th January, 2020

Curators: Joel Smith and Quentin Bajac

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

Installation view of the exhibition Peter Hujar: Speed of Life at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

 

“I photograph those who push themselves to any extreme, and people who cling to the freedom to be themselves.”


Peter Hujar

 

 

Free your mind

A huge posting to finish what has been a bumper year on Art Blart: two book chapters published, a photographic research trip to Europe in which I saw some incredible exhibitions and took over 7000 photographs for my art work, lots of postings and writing and, sadly, the loss of two friends – my mother in Australia, the bohemian photographer and poet Joyce Evans and vision impaired photographer Andrew Follows.

I couldn’t think of a better posting to finish the year than with a photographer who put it all on the line: Peter Hujar. Not for him the world of Apollonian perfection, wishing for fortune and fame, relying on some big time backer to promote him. Hujar stuck to his craft, carving images, performances if you like, from dystopian contexts and Dionysian revellers. “Hujar was the instigator of the performances captured in his portraits, as much as a director as a photographer.”

Paraphrasing Mark Durant, we might say that Hujar was a poet of the urban nocturne, a photographer of subjective desire known for his gritty, erotic, sentimental yet (im)personal images. Philip Gefter observes that, “A hallmark of Hujar’s portraiture is the invisibility of technique – a kind of visual innocence – as if the camera were not present and the subject had been happened upon.” Richard Woodward says that Hujar, “observed his companions in this outlaw life with what might be called warm objectivity.” Photographer Duane Michals says that, “Hujar was a pioneer, years ahead of Mapplethorpe in his sexual candor, as well as an artist whose photographs are less swank and less affected.”

Ah! what a time it was to be an artist and to be gay in New York, with the likes of Hujar, Warhol, Mapplethorpe, Wojnarowicz, Haring, Arthur Tress, and Duane Michals, to name but a few. A time of sexual liberation, followed by a period of disease and death. Hujar pictures this “scene” – the flowering of gay life and then the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. He pictures the constellations as they swirl around him. He allows the viewer to enter his world without judgement, just showing it how it was – a world of avant-garde dance, music, art, and drag performance; “glowing skyscrapers, assorted rubble, discarded rugs, boys in drag, and girls passed out in his doorway.” This is it he is saying, this is how I live, this is who surrounds me, suck it up and breathe it in. He allows the viewer to enter his world of ideas and possible metaphors. No judgement is offered nor accepted.

As my appreciation of his photographs grows, I reflect on the skill that it takes to make these photographs look effortless. Hujar, “a student of Lisette Model, admirer of August Sander, and friend of Diane Arbus, made his photographs distinctly his own: a perfect and unmistakable mirror of his own body and milieu.” A mirror of strength and determination / of friendship / of love – his pictures gather, together, a feeling for – the freedom of people, and places, to be themselves. Do places have feelings? yes they do! (I remember visiting the Coliseum in Rome and having to leave after 20 minutes the energy of the place was so bad; and then visiting the Loretta Sanctuary in Prague and feeling, such calm and peace in that place, that I have rarely felt before).

Hujar’s photographs are memorable. Nan Goldin and Vince Aletti said that his work, “like that of so few photographers, can’t be forgotten and becomes even deeper and more compelling over time.” His work is so compelling it’s like you can’t take tear your eyes away from the photographs. They demand repeat viewing. They seem possessed of an awareness of their own making. That is Hujar’s music, his signature.

Like any great artist, his images reveal themselves over time, expounding his love of life and his intimate and free engagement with the world. Hujar was, is, and always will be… a watcher, a dreamer, a cosmic spirit.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to Jeu de Paume for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Many thankx to David for the iPhone installation images. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Public Garden, Taormina, Sicily' 1959 from the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris, October 2019 - January 2020

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Public Garden, Taormina, Sicily
1959
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Sheep, Pennsylvania' 1969 from the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris, October 2019 - January 2020

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Sheep, Pennsylvania
1969
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

 

The life and art of Peter Hujar (1934-1987) were rooted in downtown New York. Private by nature, combative in manner, well-read, and widely connected, Hujar inhabited a world of avant-garde dance, music, art, and drag performance. His mature career paralleled the public unfolding of gay life between the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

In his loft studio in the East Village, Hujar focused on those who followed their creative instincts and shunned mainstream success. He made, in his words, “uncomplicated, direct photographs of complicated and difficult subjects,” immortalising moments, individuals, and subcultures passing at the speed of life.

What was Hujar’s truth, his photographic truth? Hujar understood and utilized photography’s tension between document and theatricality. In the act of photographing there is a performance, not only on the part of the subject, but for the photographer as well. For Hujar, to photograph was a balancing act between fierce observation and manifesting his devotion. As Jennifer Quick observes in her essay for the catalogue, This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, “While Arbus and Mapplethorpe are known for their detached postures, Hujar’s silent, tacit presence pervades his work. Like Avedon, Hujar was the instigator of the performances captured in his portraits, as much as a director as a photographer.” That Hujar is considered in the same company of Avedon, Arbus, and Mapplethorpe, reminds us that the retrospective Speed of Life is long overdue.

Hujar’s restlessness led him to wander beyond the confines of the studio. Like Brassai, Hujar was a poet of the urban nocturne, prowling the streets with his camera as the day unraveled. Brassai’s Paris is gritty, erotic, sentimental, yet impersonal. Hujar’s photographs of New York’s streets at night embrace emptiness and furtive gestures, glowing skyscrapers, assorted rubble, discarded rugs, boys in drag, and girls passed out in his doorway. His nighttime images of the Hudson river are disquieting, suggesting powerful currents not fully understood by the dappled surfaces. The thrill and danger of an anonymous sexual encounter is manifested in the 1981 image, Man Leaning Against Tree. It is the moment for Hujar to surveille and assess, when the object of desire is seen but has not yet turned his head to return the gaze. There is a little bit of softness in the image, due, perhaps, to the dim light or the camera moving while the shutter remained open. This image is as much a document of Hujar’s habits of looking as it is about the man leaning against the tree. Despite claims of photography’s objectivity or passive observation, the photographer, consciously or not, visually manifests subjective desire, and Hujar was masterful in this regard. …

While all photographs are tethered to mortality, there is something exemplary in Hujar’s cool acceptance of our temporality. He was fully engaged with his moment yet unsentimental in his attachment. Whether he was photographing a lover or an abandoned dog as elegant as it is scruffy, we can sense that Hujar’s interest was intellectual and physical in equal measure. He may not have been comfortable with the world as it was, but he embraced and even loved what was in front of his camera. “My work comes out of my life, the people I photograph are not freaks or curiosities to me,” he said. “I like people who dare.”

Mark Alice Durant. “Peter Hujar’s Photographic Truth,” on the Saint Lucy website [Online] Cited 01/11/2019

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Gay Liberation Front Poster Image' 1970

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gay Liberation Front Poster Image
1970
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Gay Liberation Front poster image

Hujar put his art to political use in 1969. In late June, a police raid inspired fierce resistance from the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, in the West Village. Hujar’s boyfriend at the time, Jim Fouratt, arrived on the scene to organise for the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), the first political group to cite homosexuality in its name. Hujar agreed to make a photograph for a GLF poster. Early one Sunday morning that fall, members of the group assembled and ran back and forth past the photographer on Nineteenth Street, west of Broadway. The poster, bearing the slogan COME OUT!!, appeared in late spring 1970 in advance of the gay liberation march that marked the first anniversary of Stonewall.

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris showing 'Gay Liberation Front Poster Image' 1970 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gay Liberation Front Poster Image (installation view)
1970
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Candy Darling on her Deathbed' 1973

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Candy Darling on her Deathbed
1973
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Candy Darling

In September 1973, transgender Warhol Superstar Candy Darling (born James Lawrence Slattery) was hospitalised for lymphoma. She asked Hujar to make a portrait of her “as a farewell to my fans.” Out of several dozen exposures, Hujar chose to print this languorous pose. As rendered in the print, Candy’s banal, fluorescent-lit hospital room looks as elegant as the studio props in a Hollywood starlet’s portrait. Hujar later wrote that his style cues came from Candy, who was “playing every death scene from every movie.” The image, first seen in print in the New York Post after Candy’s death six months later, became the most widely reproduced of Hujar’s works during his lifetime.

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris showing 'Candy Darling on her Deathbed' 1973  (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Candy Darling on her Deathbed (installation view)
1973
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Fran Lebowitz at Home in Morristown, New Jersey' 1974

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Fran Lebowitz at Home in Morristown, New Jersey
1974
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Self-Portrait Jumping (1)' 1974

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Self-Portrait Jumping (1)
1974
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris showing 'Self-Portrait Jumping (1)' 1974 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Self-Portrait Jumping (1) (installation view)
1974
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Susan Sontag' 1975

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Susan Sontag
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Susan Sontag (installation view)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Christopher Street Pier (2)' 1976  (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Christopher Street Pier (2) (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Christopher Street Pier (2)' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Christopher Street Pier (2)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

 

Jeu de Paume presents a selection of 150 photographs of this singular artist from October 15th, 2019 to January 19th, 2020. The exhibition follows Hujar’s work from the beginnings mid 1950 until the 1980s, shaping a portrait of the underground New York City.

The life and art of Peter Hujar (1934-1987) were rooted in downtown New York. Private by nature, combative in manner, well-read, and widely connected, Hujar inhabited a world of avant-garde dance, music, art, and drag performance. His mature career paralleled the public unfolding of gay life between the Stonewall uprising* in 1969 and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

After graduating from high school in 1953, Hujar worked as an assistant to commercial photographers until 1968. Five years of contributing features to mass-market magazines convinced him that a fashion career “wasn’t right for me” and in 1973 he opted for an autonomous, near-penniless life as an artist. In his loft studio above a theater in the East Village, Hujar focused on those who obeyed their creative instincts and shunned mainstream success.

At age forty-two, he published his only monograph, Portraits in Life and Death, and opened his first solo gallery show. The searching intimacy he achieved as a portraitist carried over into unsentimental photographs of animals and plants, landscapes, buildings, and the unique features of nude bodies.

Hujar’s brief affair in 1981 with the young artist David Wojnarowicz evolved into a mentoring bond that changed both their lives. On their excursions to blighted areas around New York, Hujar crafted the portrait of a city in free fall, complementing Wojnarowicz’s dark vision of Reagan-era America.

Peter Hujar died of AIDS-related pneumonia in November 1987.

Press release from Jeu de Paume

 

Early years

In 1953, Peter Hujar finished high school in Manhattan, where he had studied photography. He then worked for some fifteen years as an assistant to commercial photographers. Punctuating those years were two long periods in Italy, buoyed by scholarships – a first one that was obtained by a boyfriend (1958-1959) and then his own (1962-1963). From 1968 to 1972, he tried to make it as a freelancer in the mass-market world of fashion, music, and advertising photography. The hustle “wasn’t right for me,” and he turned his back on the commercial mainstream. From this time on he lived on almost nothing, squeaking by on small jobs, taking paying jobs only when necessary and focusing on the subjects he found compelling. In 1973, he moved to the crumbling East Village, into a loft that would become the setting for his mature studio work, most notably the vast majority of his portraits.

Portraits

Portraiture was central to Hujar’s practice. The subjects of his art, Hujar wrote, were “those who push themselves to any extreme” and those who “cling to the freedom to be themselves.” “In a sense, I am still a fashion photographer. These people are chic but in a dark kind of way. Most of them are unknown or maybe known to just a few, but they have all been creative adventurers and possess a certain spirit.”

Most of his portraits were posed, but Hujar often expected his models to perform in front of the camera, which made many of the shoots truly collaborative ventures. Disguises and props were often incorporated, and his subjects were sometimes veiled, simultaneously revealing and masking themselves.

The reclining portrait is a photographic genre Hujar made his own. The pose features extensively in his 1976 monograph Portraits in Life and Death, and he continued to rely on it as a means of capturing something unique in his sitter: to face a camera lens from a reclining position is an unfamiliar and provoking experience.

New York

“The happiest times with Peter, when he wasn’t photographing, were walking around Manhattan, looking at the crowns of buildings, and the fantasies about ‘living there,'” remembers Gary Schneider, one of his close friends.

Born in New Jersey, Hujar spent all his life in New York, and more specifically in Manhattan, whose buildings, streets, and piers he started photographing more extensively in the second half of the 1970s. Divided between Downtown’s derelict areas and Midtown’s skyscrapers, Hujar’s New York is often a nocturnal city: a place of abandoned structures, night-time cruising, and early-dawn vistas. A few journeys outside New York, during the summer months, to the beaches of Fire Island in the Hamptons, and, in the early 1980s, to the countryside around Germantown, forty miles north of New York, along the Hudson River, offer other glimpses of Peter Hujar’s personal geography, testifying to the variety of subjects that he found worth photographing.

Bodies

Portraiture of bodies was another focal point of Hujar’s last decade of work. In 1978, some of his works were included in The Male Nude: A photographic Survey at the Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery in New York.

Bodies, he suggested, could be read as freely as faces for character, emotion, or life story.

He photographed bodies in the extremes of youth and old age, bodies displaying unique features, and bodies in transient states, notably pregnancy and arousal.

Whether photographing faces or bodies, Hujar was attentive to the characteristics conferred by time and experience, such as Manny Vasquez’s spinal tap scar and the imprint left by socks on Randy Gilberti’s ankles. “I want people to feel the picture and smell it,” he said of his nudes, which he contrasted to the idealised bodies in Robert Mapplethorpe’s work.

Gracie Mansion Gallery, 1986

When exhibiting his work, Hujar employed two distinct methods. He displayed prints either in isolation (notably in his loft, where just one photograph at a time was on view) or in large groupings, two images high, as on this wall. For the last exhibition during his lifetime, in January 1986 in New York, Hujar covered the walls of the Gracie Mansion Gallery with a frieze of seventy photographs in no apparent order. He fine-tuned the layout for days until no one type of image (portrait, nude, animal, still life, landscape, cityscape) appeared twice consecutively. Each of his subjects thus preserved its own identity and singularity rather than serving as a variation on an imposed theme.

The arrangement highlighted his inventive range, created echoes among seemingly unrelated images, and drew attention to preoccupations that had recurred throughout his career. The display in this room centres on images taken in the 1980s and is freely inspired by that 1986 exhibition.

Andy Warhol

In 1964 Peter Hujar was a regular visitor to The Factory, Andy Warhol’s studio at 231 East 47th Street in New York. He posed four times for Screen Tests, brief portraits filmed by Warhol and screened in slow motion. Together with his friend Paul Thek, Hujar was chosen as one of the “Thirteen Most Beautiful Boys”, whose film portraits were regularly shown at the Factory and at parties and events elsewhere. Among the other personalities figuring in the Screen Tests in 1964-1965 were the actor-directors Dennis Hopper and Jack Smith, together with writer-critic Susan Sontag and poet John Ashbery – both of whom would later pose for Hujar.

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'From Rockefeller Center: The Equitable Building' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
From Rockefeller Center: The Equitable Building
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Reclining Nude on Couch' 1978

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Reclining Nude on Couch
1978
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Boy on Raft' 1978

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Boy on Raft
1978
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Surf (2)' Nd

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Surf (2)
Nd
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Boys in Car, Halloween' 1978

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Boys in Car, Halloween
1978
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Dana Reitz's Legs, Walking' 1979

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Dana Reitz’s Legs, Walking
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Dana Reitz's Legs, Walking' 1979 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Dana Reitz’s Legs, Walking (installation view)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Gary in Contortion (2)' 1979

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gary in Contortion (2)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'David Wojnarowicz Reclining (2)' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Wojnarowicz Reclining (2)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'David Wojnarowicz Reclining (2)' 1981 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Wojnarowicz Reclining (2) (installation view)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

A hallmark of Hujar’s portraiture is the invisibility of technique – a kind of visual innocence – as if the camera were not present and the subject had been happened upon, discovered there, as Ludlam appears to be, in medias res.

Philip Gefter. “Peter Hujar’s Downtown,” on the NYR Daily website [Online] Cited 01/11/2019

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'David Wojnarowicz' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Wojnarowicz
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'David Wojnarowicz' 1981 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Wojnarowicz (installation view)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

“Hermetic appeal and an identification with psychic damage came together in Hujar’s last important relationship, with the meteoric younger artist David Wojnarowicz, who was a ravaged hustler when they met at a bar in late 1980 and who died from AIDS in 1992. They were lovers briefly, then buddies and soul mates. Wojnarowicz said that Hujar “was like the parent I never had, like the brother I never had.” In return, he inspired fresh energies in Hujar’s life and late work. In a breathtakingly intimate portrait of Wojnarowicz with a cigarette and tired eyes, from 1981, the young man’s gaze meets that of the camera, with slightly wary – but willing and plainly reciprocated – devotion: love, in a way. Their story could make for a good novel or movie – as it well may, in sketched outline in your mind, while you navigate this aesthetically fierce, historically informative, strangely tender show.”

Peter Schjeldahl. “The Bohemian Rhapsody of Peer Hujar: Photographs at the crossroads of high art and low life,” on The New Yorker website January 29, 2018 [Online] Cited 01/11/2019

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Ethyl Eichelberger as Minnie the Maid' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Ethyl Eichelberger as Minnie the Maid
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Greer Lankton' 1983

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Greer Lankton
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Hujar observed his companions in this outlaw life with what might be called warm objectivity. Whatever the portrait subject – doll maker and transgender pioneer Greer Lankton, model Bruce St. Croix sitting naked on a chair and handling his huge erection, Warhol superstar Candy Darling on her death bed, or a pair of cows in a muddy field – he photographed them directly with his 2 1/4, often at close range, without props or gauzy lighting.

Richard B. Woodward. “Peter Hujar: Speed of Life @Morgan Library,” on the Collector Daily website February 21, 2018 [Online] Cited 01/11/2019

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Gary Indiana Veiled' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gary Indiana Veiled
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Some iPhone installation photographs and others

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Woman and Girl in Window Italy' c. 1963 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Woman and Girl in Window Italy
c. 1963
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Woman and Girl in Window Italy' c. 1963 

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Woman and Girl in Window Italy
c. 1963
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Young Man and Boy, Italy' 1958 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Young Man and Boy, Italy (installation view)
1958
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

He began as a street photographer, on the prowl for unrehearsed gestures, as can be seen in a 1958 picture in Italy of a well-dressed young man touching his thick coif of dark hair and standing next to a pudgy boy in a cap who has his hands in his pockets.

Richard B. Woodward. “Peter Hujar: Speed of Life @Morgan Library,” on the Collector Daily website February 21, 2018 [Online] Cited 01/11/2019

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Young Man and Boy, Italy' 1958

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Young Man and Boy, Italy
1958
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Palermo Catacombs #11, Rows of Bodies' 1963 (installation view)

Peter Hujar. 'Palermo Catacombs (11)' 1963

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Palermo Catacombs #11, Rows of Bodies
1963
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Man in Costume on Toilet, Backstage at Palm Casino Review' 1974 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Man in Costume on Toilet, Backstage at Palm Casino Review (installation view)
1974
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Nude Self-Portrait, Running / Nude Self-Portrait Series (Avedon Master Class)' 1966 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Nude Self-Portrait, Running / Nude Self-Portrait Series (Avedon Master Class) (installation view)
1966
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Group Picture' 1966 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Group Picture (installation view)
1966
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) Stephen Varble, Soho, Franklin Street (III)' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Stephen Varble, Soho, Franklin Street (III) (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Stephen Varble, Soho, Franklin Street (III)' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Stephen Varble, Soho, Franklin Street (III)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Beauregard Under Plastic (1)' 1966 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Beauregard Under Plastic (1) (installation view)
1966
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Beauregard Under Plastic (1)' 1966

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Beauregard Under Plastic (1)
1966
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Bill Elliott' 1974 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Bill Elliott (installation view)
1974
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Bill Elliott' 1974

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Bill Elliott
1974
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Dean Savard Reclining' 1984 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Dean Savard Reclining (installation view)
1984
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Dean Savard Reclining' 1984

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Dean Savard Reclining
1984
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Chloe Finch' 1981 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Chloe Finch (installation view)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Chloe Finch' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Chloe Finch
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Skippy on a Chair' 1985 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Skippy on a Chair (installation view)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Jackie Curtis and Lance Loud' 1975 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Jackie Curtis and Lance Loud (installation view)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Zachy and Gamal Sherif (Twins)' 1985 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Zachy and Gamal Sherif (Twins) (installation view)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Zachy and Gamal Sherif (Twins)' 1985

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Zachy and Gamal Sherif (Twins)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Ethyl Eichelberger, Dressed as a Man' 1983 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Ethyl Eichelberger, Dressed as a Man (installation view)
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Girl in My Hallway' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Girl in My Hallway (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Girl in My Hallway' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Girl in My Hallway
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Hujar’s indelible portraits of famous avant-garde artists and drag queens, and his curiously gothic landscapes and animal pictures, are so fastidiously exquisite, so fussily exact, so representative of a period past (“Speed of Life” is a very odd title) that they immediately summon the ratty hauteur, the necessary obsessions, and the cold-eyed dignity that helped most gay men survive, and not survive, in the early gay lib and AIDS years. …

… His portraits often combine the freakish curiosity of Arbus and the monumental candidness of his mentor Richard Avedon into something resembling momento mori portraits suitable for displaying atop a casket. They are unmistakably contemporary but they feel historic, as if burned to silver plates. (Not for nothing did Hujar make his own display prints.) That doesn’t mean there’s no life in those portraits; far from it, these are the essences of his subjects so well-distilled that there’s really no need to go on. We see nostalgia washing over the present.

Mark B. “Peter Hujar’s brilliant, too brilliant icons,” on the 48hills website October 22, 2018 [Online] Cited 01/11/2019

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'St. Patrick's, Easter Sunday' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
St. Patrick’s, Easter Sunday (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'St. Patrick's, Easter Sunday' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
St. Patrick’s, Easter Sunday
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Boy on a Park Bench' 1981 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Boy on a Park Bench (installation view)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Boy on a Park Bench' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Boy on a Park Bench
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Mural at Piers' 1983 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Mural at Piers (installation view)
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Mural at Piers' 1983

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Mural at Piers
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Self Portrait' 1975 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Self Portrait (installation view)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Self Portrait in White Tank Top' 1975

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Self Portrait in White Tank Top
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Gary in Contortion (1)' 1979 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gary in Contortion (1) (installation view)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Gary in Contortion (1)' 1979

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gary in Contortion (1)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Daniel Schook Sucking Toe (Close-up)' 1981 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Daniel Schook Sucking Toe (Close-up) (installation view)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Daniel Schook Sucking Toe (Close-up)' 1981

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Daniel Schook Sucking Toe (Close-up)
1981
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Pascal Imbert Scarred Abdomen' 1985 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Pascal Imbert Scarred Abdomen (installation view)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Pascal Imbert Scarred Abdomen' 1980

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Pascal Imbert Scarred Abdomen
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Manny Vasquez (Back with Bullet Wound)' 1979 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Manny Vasquez (Back with Bullet Wound) (installation view)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Robert Levithan on Bed' 1977 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Robert Levithan on Bed (installation view)
1977
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Robert Levithan on Bed' 1977

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Robert Levithan on Bed
1977
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Randy Gilberti, High Heels, Halloween' 1980 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Randy Gilberti, High Heels, Halloween (installation view)
1980
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Randy Gilberti, High Heels, Halloween' 1980

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Randy Gilberti, High Heels, Halloween
1980
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Nina Christgau (2)' 1985 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Nina Christgau (2) (installation view)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Nina Christgau (2)' 1985

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Nina Christgau (2)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Installation view of the exhibition 'Peter Hujar: Speed of Life' at Jeu de Paume, Paris

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Paul Hudson (Leg)' 1979 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Paul Hudson (Leg) (installation view)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Paul Hudson (Leg)' 1979

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Paul Hudson (Leg)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Isaac Hayes' 1971 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Isaac Hayes (installation view)
1971
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Isaac Hayes' 1971

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Isaac Hayes
1971
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'William S. Burroughs (1)' 1975 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
William S. Burroughs (1) (installation view)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'William S. Burroughs (1)' 1975

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
William S. Burroughs (1)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'David Warrilow (1)' 1985 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Warrilow (1) (installation view)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'David Warrilow (1)' 1985

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Warrilow (1)
1985
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Jerome Robbins at Bridgehampton (3)' 1977 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Jerome Robbins at Bridgehampton (3) (installation view)
1977
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Jerome Robbins at Bridgehampton (3)' 1977

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Jerome Robbins at Bridgehampton (3)
1977
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Hudson River' 1975 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Hudson River (installation view)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Hudson River' 1975

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Hudson River
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Paul Hudson' 1979 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Paul Hudson (installation view)
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Paul Hudson' 1979

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Paul Hudson
1979
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Rockefeller Center (2)' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Rockefeller Center (2) (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Rockefeller Center (2)' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Rockefeller Center (2)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Cat atop a cash register in a liquor store' 1957 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Cat atop a cash register in a liquor store (installation view)
1957
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Louise Nevelson (2)' 1969 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Louise Nevelson (2) (installation view)
1969
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Louise Nevelson (2)' 1969

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Louise Nevelson (2)
1969
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Bill Rafford and Vince Aletti in Dresses Fire Island' 1971 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Bill Rafford and Vince Aletti in Dresses Fire Island (installation view)
1971
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Bill Rafford and Vince Aletti in Dresses Fire Island' 1971

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Bill Rafford and Vince Aletti in Dresses Fire Island
1971
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Robyn Brentano (1)' 1975 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Robyn Brentano (1) (installation view)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar. 'Robyn Brentano (1)' 1975

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Robyn Brentano (1)
1975
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Dog in the Street, Provincetown' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Dog in the Street, Provincetown (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Dog in the Street, Provincetown' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Dog in the Street, Provincetown
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Greer Lankton's Legs' 1983 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Greer Lankton’s Legs (installation view)
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Greer Lankton's Legs' 1983

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Greer Lankton’s Legs
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Paul Thek' 1973 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Paul Thek (installation view)
1973
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Paul Thek' 1973

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Paul Thek
1973
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Christopher Street Pier #4' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Christopher Street Pier #4 (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Bruce de Ste. Croix' 1976 (installation view)

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Bruce de Ste. Croix (installation view)
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'Bruce de Ste. Croix' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Bruce de Ste. Croix
1976
Gelatin silver print
The Morgan Library & Museum, achat en 2013 grâce au Charina Endowment Fund
© Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

 

 

Jeu de Paume
1, Place de la Concorde
75008 Paris
métro Concorde
Phone: 01 47 03 12 50

Opening hours:
Tuesday: 11.00 – 21.00
Wednesday – Sunday: 11.00 – 19.00
Closed Monday

Jeu de Paume website

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Exhibition: ‘In Focus: The Camera’ at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, Los Angeles

Exhibition dates: 30th July, 2019 – 5th January, 2020

Curator: Paul Martineau

 

Lisette Model (American born Austria, 1901-1983) 'Weegee, New York' 1945 from the exhibition 'In Focus: The Camera' at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, Los Angeles, July 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Lisette Model (American born Austria, 1901-1983)
Weegee, New York
1945
Gelatin silver print
34.1 × 27cm (13 7/16 × 10 5/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy Baudoin Lebon/Keitelman

 

 

Apologies. A filler posting from me as I am sick at the moment. Although I love the design of the old cameras – when viewed from the outside, through the media images, the exhibition seems to also be a bit of a filler from the Getty.

Where are the interesting questions?

How can a box of metal and glass, a machine, capture onto film and pixels, something that so transcends time and space that, at its best, it preserves the spirit of our existence, the condition of our becoming?

How does the camera impart its own reality, and how, through looking, do photographers understand how different cameras impart different realities? How do we intimately see what the camera sees, without looking through the machine?

How have digital cameras altered how we use the camera and how we see the world, moving us from a viewfinder and vanishing point, to looking at a flat screen on the back of the camera?

How does the physicality of the camera, from large format to iPhone, affect how we hold the machine, how we interact with it’s ontology and enact its rationale – in particular perspectives of abstraction, becoming, existence, reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations: Substance, Relation, Quantity and Quality; Place, Time, Situation, Condition, Action, Passion?

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the J. Paul Getty Museum for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Once a simple wooden box with a primitive lens and cap for controlling light, the modern camera has undergone enormous change since its invention in the early nineteenth-century. Flexible film stocks, built-in light meters, motor drives, and megapixels are a few of the advancements that have transformed the way this ingenious device captures and preserves a moment in time. This display explores the evolution of the camera through the Museum’s collection of historic cameras and photographs.

 

Unknown maker (European) 'Camera Obscura' c. 1750-1800 from the exhibition 'In Focus: The Camera' at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, Los Angeles, July 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Unknown maker (European)
Camera Obscura
c. 1750-1800
Wood, brass, and glass
Object: H: 7.9 × W: 10.8 × D: 23.5cm (3 1/8 × 4 1/4 × 9 1/4 in.)
Object (Extended): H: 31.1cm (12 1/4 in.)
Lid extended: H: 15.9cm (6 1/4 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Unknown maker (French) 'Daguerreotype/Wet-plate Camera' c. 1851 from the exhibition 'In Focus: The Camera' at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, Los Angeles, July 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Unknown maker (French)
Daguerreotype/Wet-plate Camera
c. 1851
Wood, brass, and glass
Object: H: 18.1 × W: 21.6 × D: 31.1cm (7 1/8 × 8 1/2 × 12 1/4 in.)
Lens: H: 9.2 × Diam: 7.3cm (3 5/8 × 2 7/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Unknown maker (British) 'Camera box' 1860

 

Unknown maker (British)
Camera box
1860
Wood, glass, metal
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

August Semmendinger (American, 1820-1885) 'Mammoth Plate Wet-Collodion Camera' 1874-1885

 

August Semmendinger (American, 1820-1885)
Mammoth Plate Wet-Collodion Camera
1874-1885
wood, metal, fabric, and glass
The J. Paul Getty Museum, gift in memory of Beaumont Newhall

 

August Semmendinger (1820 – August 6, 1885) was a manufacturer of photographic apparatuses and the inventor of the Excelsior Wet Plate Camera. Semmendinger first made his cameras in New York City. The second factory where he built his cameras was located in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

 

Kodak (American) 'The Kodak' 1888

 

Kodak (American, founded 1888)
The Kodak
1888
Wood, leather, brass, and glass
Object: H: 9.5 × W: 8.3 × D: 17.1cm (3 3/4 × 3 1/4 × 6 3/4 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

The very first Kodak camera.

 

John F. Collins (American, 1888-1990, active 1904-1974) '[Kodak Ektra Camera]' c. 1930

 

John F. Collins (American, 1888-1990, active 1904-1974)
[Kodak Ektra Camera]
c. 1930
Gelatin silver print
38.4 × 48.1cm (15 1/8 × 18 15/16 in.)
Gift of Nina and Leo Pircher

 

Eastman Kodak Company (American, founded 1888) 'Kodak Bantam Special' 1936

 

Eastman Kodak Company (American, founded 1888)
Kodak Bantam Special
1936
Metal, enamel, and glass
The J. Paul Getty Museum, gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Eastman Kodak Company (American, founded 1888) 'World War II "Matchbox" Spy Camera' 1944

 

Eastman Kodak Company (American, founded 1888)
World War II “Matchbox” Spy Camera
1944
Metal and glass
The J. Paul Getty Museum, gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Polaroid Corporation (American, founded 1937) 'Polaroid Land Camera Model 95' c. 1948-1949

 

Polaroid Corporation (American, founded 1937)
Polaroid Land Camera Model 95
c. 1948-1949
Leather and steel Object (Closed): L: 24.1 × W: 11.4 × D: 5.7cm (9 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 2 1/4 in.)
Case: H: 19.1 × W: 26.7 × D: 7cm (7 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 2 3/4 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Steineck Kamerawerk (Tutzing, West Germany) 'Steineck ABC Wristwatch Camera' 1949

 

Steineck Kamerawerk (Tutzing, West Germany)
Steineck ABC Wristwatch Camera
1949
Metal, enamel, leather, and glass

 

Made in Germany by Steineck Kamerawerk. Subminiature camera for discs of film 25mm diameter, 8 exposures 7mm diameter. Steinhetl VI lens F:12.5mm f/2.8 fixed aperture, coated cobir enamel. Two-speed rotary shutter. Refelcting finder – concave mirror and ball and pin sight. Wristwatch shaped. Designed in Germany by Dr R Steineck.

Looks like a large wristwatch. Came with a 12.5mm (f2.5) fixed-focus lens. Single shutter speed. Eight round exposures with a 5.5 mm diameter are produced on a round disk of film 24mm in diameter. Disks can be cut from standard 35mm film. A cassette, with its own exposure counter, is used to hold the film. To load the camera, the cassette is pressed lightly into place in the opening in the back of the camera, and the knurled rim of the cassette is turned firmly to the right until it stops and the red dots on the camera body and cassette are aligned. Film advance is automatic – the film is readied for the next frame immediately after an exposure is made. The lens is a 12.5m f/2.5, made by Steinheil. It is fixed-focus so that everything from 4.25 ft. to infinity is sharp. The lens has a two-point aperture setting: one for bright light (red dot), the other for dim light (blue dot), set by a control knob on the face of the camera. The metal focal-plane shutter has only one speed, 1/125 sec. In making an exposure, the camera is held between the index finger and thumb, the shutter release being depressed by the thumb while the index finger serves to steady the camera by exerting a counter pressure. No separate action is required to advance the film or cock the shutter; as soon as the exposure has been made, the camera is ready to take the next picture. The A-B-C has two parallax-corrected finders: an optical hollow mirror viewfinder, which permits sighting from above when the camera, worn on the wrist, is held in picture-taking position. The other, a direct-vision viewfinder, is used at eye level, requiring that the camera be removed from the wrist. When the direct-vision finder is used, you sight through the hole in the back (cassette) with the camera close to the eye; the camera is held by the straps, both thumbs steadying the body, and the shutter release is operated by the index finger. The original accessories included filters, close-up lenses, and even a special enlarger. Steineck planned an M-sync flash for a future A-B-C, as well as a built-in filter carousel (to be put in front of the aperture control), and even a tripod-mount accessory that fits through the eye-level finder!

Text from Ebay website

 

Hasselblad AB (Swedish, founded 1841) 'Hasselblad wide angle camera' 1954-1959

 

Hasselblad AB (Swedish, founded 1841)
Hasselblad wide angle camera
1954-1959
Metal, artificial leather, glass
Object: 13 × 11 × 15cm (5 1/8 × 4 5/16 × 5 7/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Nippon Kogaku K.K. (Japanese, founded 1917) 'Nikon "Reporter" large load 35mm camera' after 1959

 

Nippon Kogaku K.K. (Japanese, founded 1917)
Nikon “Reporter” large load 35mm camera
after 1959
Plastic, metal, and imitation leather-covered body
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Canon Inc. (Japanese, founded 1937) 'Canon S 35mm camera with rare F2 lens' 1946

 

Canon Inc. (Japanese, founded 1937)
Canon S 35mm camera with rare F2 lens
1946
Metal, glass
Object: 8 × 14.5 × 10cm (3 1/8 × 5 11/16 × 3 15/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Gloria and Stanley Fishfader

 

Introduced in 1938, the Canon S is the younger sibling of the Hansa Canon. It was developed to compete in quality with the German Leica II, but at a price more accessible to the Japanese public.

 

Polaroid Corporation (American, founded 1937) 'Polaroid SX-70' 1972

 

Polaroid Corporation (American, founded 1937)
Polaroid SX-70
1972
Metal, plastic, leather, and glass
Private collection

 

 

Exhibition includes a selection of rare cameras from the 19th century to present

The camera, once a simple wooden box with a primitive lens and cap for controlling light, has undergone enormous changes since its invention, eventually becoming a tool that is in most people’s back pockets. In Focus: The Camera, on view July 30, 2019 – January 5, 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, explores the evolution of this ingenious device through a selection of historic cameras and photographs.

During the early 19th, the three essential components of photography – a dark chamber, a light-sensitive substrate, and a method of fixing the image – were used in different ways in the experiments of Nicéphore Niépce (French, 1765-1833), Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (French, 1787-1851), and William Henry Fox Talbot (British, 1800-1877). In subsequent decades, advancements such as flexible film stocks, built-in light meters, motor drives, and megapixels transformed the way the camera captures and preserves a moment in time.

On view in the exhibition will be a number of cameras manufactured in the 19th century to present day, including the simple camera obscura, a daguerreotype camera, a stereo camera, an early roll-film camera, a large portable camera, a miniature spy camera, an early colour camera, and the first digital camera marketed to the general public. The exhibition will include text that explains how photographs are created using each of these cameras and techniques. Cameras produced by well-known brands such as Kodak, Leica, Nikon, Hasselblad, and Canon will be displayed.

The gallery will also include a number of portraits, self-portraits, and images of artists at work by famed photographers such as Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883-1976), Dorothea Lange (American, 1895-1965), Lisette Model (American, born Austria, 1901-1983), Helmut Newton (German-Australian, 1920-2004), Edward Steichen (American, born Luxembourg, 1879-1973), Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), and Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958). These images remind the viewer of the inextricable relationship between the camera and the artist.

In Focus: The Camera is curated by Paul Martineau, associate curator of photographs for the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Text from the J. Paul Getty Museum website [Online] Cited 21/12/2019

 

Capt. Horatio Ross (British, 1801-1886) '[Self-portrait preparing a Collodion plate]' 1856-1859

 

Capt. Horatio Ross (British, 1801-1886)
[Self-portrait preparing a Collodion plate]
1856-1859
Albumen silver print
Image: 20 × 16.2cm (7 7/8 × 6 3/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

 

Underwood & Underwood (American, 1881-1940s) 'Photographing New York City - on a slender support 18 stories above pavement of Fifth Avenue' 1905

 

Underwood & Underwood (American, 1881-1940s)
Photographing New York City – on a slender support 18 stories above pavement of Fifth Avenue
1905
Gelatin silver print
Image (left): 8 × 7.6cm (3 1/8 × 3 in.)
Image (right): 8 × 7.6cm (3 1/8 × 3 in.)
Mount: 8.9 × 17.8cm (3 1/2 × 7 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

 

Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958) 'Self Portrait with Camera' 1908

 

Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958)
Self Portrait with Camera
1908
Platinum print
Image: 14.6 × 8.6cm (5 3/4 × 3 3/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© 1981 Arizona Board of Regents, Center for Creative Photography

 

George Watson (American, 1892-1977) '[Camera on 12-foot Tripod]' 1920s

 

George Watson (American, 1892-1977)
[Camera on 12-foot Tripod]
1920s
Gelatin silver print
Image: 11.7 × 9.1cm (4 5/8 × 3 9/16 in.)
Sheet: 12.2 × 9.8cm (4 13/16 × 3 7/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© The Watson Family Photo Collection

 

Man Ray (American, 1890-1976) '[Self-Portrait with Camera]' 1932

 

Man Ray (American, 1890-1976)
[Self-Portrait with Camera]
1932
Gelatin silver print
Image: 29.2 × 22.9cm (11 1/2 × 9 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Man Ray Trust ARS-ADAGP

 

Man Ray showed himself in profile in this self-portrait, intently adjusting the focal range on his view camera as if for a portrait session. He directs the camera in the photograph at the audience, while the camera taking his picture remains invisible. The touch of Man Ray’s hand on the focusing ring serves as a reminder of the human artistry required to make photographs, a departure from his more accidental approach to creating works in other media. Man Ray solarised the print, using a process indelibly associated with him.

Text from the J. Paul Getty Museum website

 

Alma Lavenson (American, 1897-1989) '[Self-Portrait]' 1932

 

Alma Lavenson (American, 1897-1989)
[Self-Portrait]
1932
Gelatin silver print
20.3 × 25.2cm (8 × 9 15/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Alma Lavenson Associates

 

Employing the sharp focus and close vantage point that were the hallmarks of Group f/64, with which she was associated, Alma R. Lavenson presented her camera as a vital extension of herself as a photographic artist. Her hands delicately and reverently frame the lens, positioning it as her centre and source of inspiration.

Text from the J. Paul Getty Museum website

 

Unknown photographer (American) '[Portrait of Dorothea Lange]' 1937

 

Unknown photographer (American)
[Portrait of Dorothea Lange]
1937
Gelatin silver print
13.7 × 16.7cm (5 3/8 × 6 9/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Gift of the Dixon Family

 

Walker Evans (1903-1975) 'Resort Photographer at Work' 1941

 

Walker Evans (1903-1975)
Resort Photographer at Work
Negative 1941; print later
Gelatin silver print
15.9 × 22.4cm (6 1/4 × 8 13/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

 

Weegee (Arthur Fellig) (American, born Austria, 1899-1968) 'Photographer at a Fire' 1940-1945

 

Weegee (Arthur Fellig) (American born Austria, 1899-1968)
Photographer at a Fire
1940-1945
Gelatin silver print
Image: 34.1 × 27.1cm (13 7/16 × 10 11/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© International Center of Photography

 

Andreas Feininger (American, born France, 1906 - 1999) 'The Photojournalist' Negative 1951; print later

 

Andreas Feininger (American born France, 1906-1999)
The Photojournalist
Negative 1951; print later
Gelatin silver print
Image: 32.3 × 26.3cm (12 11/16 × 10 3/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser
© Estate of Gertrud E. Feininger

 

Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883-1976) 'Self-Portrait with Grandchildren in a Funhouse' 1955

 

Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883-1976)
Self-Portrait with Grandchildren in a Funhouse
1955
Gelatin silver print
The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Imogen Cunningham Trust

 

Anthony Friedkin (American, b. 1949) 'Extras with Film Cameras' 1996

 

Anthony Friedkin (American, b. 1949)
Extras with Film Cameras
1996
Gelatin silver print
Image: 16.3 × 24.3cm (6 7/16 × 9 9/16 in.)
Sheet: 20.1 × 25.2cm (7 15/16 × 9 15/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift of Sue and Albert Dorskind
© Anthony Friedkin

 

 

The J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, California 90049

Opening hours:
Daily 10am – 5.30pm

The J. Paul Getty Museum website

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Video: ‘Žít svůj život’ (Living Your Life) (1963)

December 2019

 

 

Žít svůj život – dokument (1963)

 

The master – Bach, Rembrandt, Sudek – pure poetry.

Many thankx to Alfonso Melendez for alerting me to this video. More photographs can be found on the Josef Sudek, el hombre tranquilo Facebook page.

 

 

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European photographic research tour: Josef Sudek archive at u(p)m The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

Visit: Tuesday 10th September 2019, published December 2019

 

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Střelecky Ostrov' 1950s-1960s

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Střelecky Ostrov, Prague (Střelecky Island with Legion Bridge and Vltava river, Prague)
1950s-1960s
Gelatin silver print

 

 

Spirit has no boundaries

On my European photographic research tour I was invited to visit The Museum of Decorative Arts at their collection headquarters outside Prague for a private viewing of vintage prints of the Czech master photographer Josef Sudek. What a privilege.

My very great thankx to Jan Mlčoch, photography collections curator at u(p)m Prague, for his knowledge, humour and generosity of time and spirit in showing me approx. 40 vintage Josef Sudek prints and 6 rare books. Jan couldn’t believe of an interest in Sudek all the way from Australia!

All vintage photographs were donated by the family to the museum.

1/ Firstly, I was shown 6 rare books of Josef Sudek photographs. The most notable was the book “Praha panoramatická”, an edition of 300 published by SNK LHU in 1959. With a cloth cover and a star design on the front, this book featured 284 gravure panoramic plates. The photos start at the centre of Prague and then work out in a spiral in terms of location, to the countryside looking back at the city. Several double pages featured panorama close up of a house or building on the left hand side and a more distant shot of the same building on the right hand side. Close / far. The images, the tonality and the vision of this man was incredible

2/ Secondly, I was shown vintage contact prints from 1950s-1960s ranging in size from 4 x 5″ negatives (printed on 8 x 10″ paper) up to at least 12 x 16″

3/ All contact prints centred on single weight, some semi matt others slight gloss papers, with the rest of the sheet EXPOSED TO BLACK. This was Sudek’s preferred method of printing – one negative / exposure per piece of paper, not cutting the sheet ever

4/ NO TRUE BLACK AND NO BRIGHT WHITE. Tones ranged from zone 2 to maximum zone 7.5-8. Most unusual – the grey tonality of the prints that almost blended completely across the zone spectrum from 2-8. No hard delineation. On this viewing all reproductions have way too much contrast (including these iPhone images!)

5/ The highlight was 3 originally mounted pigment photographs by Sudek in 1953 (see two below). Photos sandwiched between 2 panes of glass, mounted on different coloured pieces of paper (pink, another almost tissue paper) with pigment prints. Edges of glass sealed with lead in one example. Reminiscent of Stieglitz’s use of coloured mount board for his framing. The prints were so “inky” – “of such extraordinary depth and warmth”


On many occasions I was close to tears the prints were so moving. As a friend of mine Randall Tosh observed of his prints, “his take on prints is so different from the Weston / Adams mid-century canon. I don’t always think they work, but when they do, they are otherworldly.” From what I observed on this viewing, they worked incredibly well.

This was a sublime experience, one of the photographic highlights of my life. Sudek’s magical work has always struck me as a form of psychotherapy and so it proved… photography as a form of healing after his injuries during the First World War.

Spirit has no boundaries.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to Jan Mlčoch for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting and to Alfonso Melendez and the Josef Sudek public Facebook group for their brains trust, for finding out the location and date of some of the images featured here. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

“There is no approach, no recipe. Each thing has to be done differently.”


Josef Sudek

 

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Praha panoramatická' book cover, SNK LHU, 1959

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) Praha panoramatická book cover, SNK LHU, 1959

 

“Praha Panoramaticka (Prague In Panoramic Photographs)” published by Statni Nakladatelstvi, Prague in 1959. Containing 284 striking black-and-white panoramic photogravures of Prague and the surrounding countryside, Sudek masterfully captures the city that he loved and shows why he earned the nickname, “The Poet of Prague”. In The Photobook: A History, Martin Parr and Gerry Badger provide an excellent critique, “Sudek is a photographer whose body of work suggests that photography was as necessary to him as breathing, Josef Sudek claimed the city of Prague and his surroundings as comprehensively as Eugene Atget claimed Paris. His masterpiece is one of the most singular photobooks ever made, Praha panoramaticka (Prague Panorama). To create this wealth of memorable images, Sudek used an antique 1894 Kodak Panorama camera with a spring-drive lens that produced a negative of approximately 4 by 12 inches. Of all his books, this one sums up his love of Prague. The panoramic camera is a strong unifying element in the imagery, but so is Sudek’s democratic eye, which disregards nothing. His feeling for light, weather, and space in combination has never been surpassed. Praha panoramaticka is a veritable encyclopaedia of how to plot, construct and unify a panoramic photograph. And if this were not enough, Sudek even pulls off a near impossible trick at the end of the book: good vertical panoramas”.

Text from the Abebooks website [Online] Cited 09/11/2019

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Praha panoramatická' book page, SNK LHU, 1959

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Praha panoramatická' book page, SNK LHU, 1959

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Praha panoramatická' book page, SNK LHU, 1959

 

Josef Sudek. Praha panoramatická book pages, SNK LHU, 1959

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Střelecky Ostrov' 1950s-1960s

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Both Střelecky Ostrov, Prague (Střelecky Island, Prague)
1950s-1960s
Gelatin silver print

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Střelecky Ostrov' 1950s-1960s

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Střelecky Ostrov, Prague (Střelecky Island, Prague)
1950s-1960s
Gelatin silver print

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Střelecky Ostrov' 1950s-1960s

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Both Střelecky Ostrov, Prague (Střelecky Island, Prague)
1950s-1960s
Gelatin silver print

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Střelecky Ostrov' 1950s-1960s

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Střelecky Ostrov, Prague (Střelecky Island, Prague)
1950s-1960s
Gelatin silver print

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Střelecky Ostrov' (Střelecky Island, Prague) with a statue of St John of Nepomuk? 1950s-1960s

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Střelecky Ostrov, Prague (Střelecky Island, Prague) with a statue of St John of Nepomuk?
1950s-1960s
Gelatin silver print

 

Saint John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (Czech: Jan Nepomucký; German: Johannes Nepomuk; Latin: Ioannes Nepomucenus) (c. 1345 – 20 March 1393) is the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.

Text from the Wikipedia website

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'The Window of My Studio, Prague' 1944-1953

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
The Window of My Studio, Prague
1944-1953
Gelatin silver print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'The Window of My Studio, Prague' 1944-1953

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
The Window of My Studio, Prague
1944-1953
Gelatin silver print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Jaro v me zahradce' (Spring in my Garden) 1953

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Jaro v me zahrádce (Spring in my Garden)
1953
Pigment print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Jaro v me zahradce' (Spring in my Garden) 1953

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Jaro v me zahrádce (Spring in my Garden)
1953
Pigment print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Jaro v me zahradce' (Spring in my Garden) 1953 (detail)

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Jaro v me zahrádce (Spring in my Garden) (detail)
1953
Pigment print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Untitled' 1953

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Untitled
1953
Pigment print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Untitled' 1953

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Untitled
1953
Pigment print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Untitled' 1953 (detail)

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Untitled (detail)
1953
Pigment print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Untitled' 1950-1954

 

Plate 38 Untitled 1950-1954 from the book Joseph Sudek Still Lifes, Torst, 2008

 

From the mid-1920s until his death in 1976, Czech photographer Joseph Sudek shot Gothic and Baroque architecture, street scenes and still lifes – usually leaving the frame free of people and capturing a poetic and highly individualistic glimpse of Prague. The still lifes are the best known aspect of his oeuvre; indeed, his graceful depictions of drinking-glasses and eggs are familiar to those who don’t necessarily even know his name. Acceding to his reclusive nature, Sudek began The Window of My Studio series in the 1940s. It allowed him to capture street scenes without going outside and helped him discover a particular fondness for how glass refracts light. The still lifes emerged from the informal arrangements Sudek would make on his windowsill, and occupied him for a number of years. Depicting a range of quotidian objects with a marked artfulness – some were made in homage to favourite painters like Caravaggio – the series deserves a deeper look. This volume is the first in-depth study of Sudek’s still lifes and also explores his creative use of carbon printing – a pigment process on rag paper not often used photographically – which lent so many of his images such extraordinary depth and warmth.

Text from the Amazon website

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Labyrinth on My Table' 1967

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976)
Labyrinth on My Table
1967
Gelatin silver print
© The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

 

Josef Sudek (Czech, 1896-1976) 'Labyrinth on My Table' 1967

 

Plate 22 Labyrinth on My Table 1967 from the book by Daniela Hodrová and Antonín Dufek Joseph Sudek Labyrinths, Torst, 2013

 

Like the previous volumes The Window of My Studio and Still Lifes, this new Josef Sudek monograph collects a series of photographs made within the confines of the Czech photographer’s workspace. Sudek’s studio famously verged on installation art, as the poet Jaroslav Seifert recalled: “Breton’s surrealism would have come into its own there. A drawing by Jan Zrzavy lay rolled up by a bottle of nitric acid, which stood on a plate where there was a crust of bread and a piece of smoked meat with a bite taken out of it. And above this hung the wing of a Baroque angel with Sudek’s beret hanging from it… This disorder was so picturesque, so immensely rich, that it almost came close to being a strange but highly subtle work of art.” Gathered here in all their surreal beauty, the Labyrinths series depicts multilayered assemblages of objects in endlessly permutated combinations.

Text from Google Books website

 

Folders of vintage Josef Sudek prints at the Central Depository UPM Stodůlky

 

Folders of vintage Josef Sudek prints at the Central Depository UPM Stodůlky

 

 

u(p)m The Museum of Decorative Arts
17. listopadu Street No.2
110 00 Prague 1
Phone: +420 778 543 900

u(p)m The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague website

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Vale Andrew Follows: A life in focus. ‘Elements Of Focus’ exhibition at Magnet Gallery, Docklands, Melbourne

Exhibition dates: 7th – 21st December, 2019

 

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Elements of Focus' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Elements of Focus
2019
Photos used: 12

 

 

Vale Andrew Follows: A life in focus

It is with great sadness that I found out today that artist Andrew Follows passed away yesterday, December 11th, 2019.

If anybody could say that he lived and breathed photography it was Andrew. It was his passion, his reason for being. And he was good at it, very good at it.

With his Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) – a condition which rendered one eye completely blind with ever diminishing tunnel vision in the other – he saw the world like nobody else could. Not because of this, but because he was Andrew, he was just born to be the great enabler. There was no dis/abled with Andrew. He got on with life. He got on with being an artist, being the best he could possibly be with a passion and enthusiasm which I was totally in awe of.

I still remember our trips together to photograph for his solo exhibition Density at Anita Traverso Gallery in 2013 with his beloved guide dog Eamon sitting in the footwell of my car. I mentored Andrew for a year before the exhibition and believe me, he knew what he wanted and how to get the shot. I drove him to the locations we had chosen and helped him set up the camera and tripod. He opened the lens and looked at the screen on the back of the digital camera… and saw the world! He saw things that were only blurs to him before on the screen of that digital camera. That line of light that hovers above the judges chair in the courtroom at Beechworth, where Ned Kelly was sentenced to death, lingers long in the memory. Only Andrew could get permission to photograph, at night, in the old Beechworth Courthouse.

As I have written in an earlier piece, “His is not the vision of im(pair)ment as the rest of us see the world, through two eyes, but the holistic vision of a monocular eye that becomes the root of his photography. The lens of the camera becomes an extension of Self, the shutter his very existence and the digital screen on the back of the camera his tabula rasa, a “blank slate” upon which he writes his experience and perception, his knowledge of the world. His experience of vision and the evidence of his photographs become both the beginning and the end of the work, a place in which his fundamental nature resides.”

Andrew speaks truth to photography, for that was his nature. In so doing he speaks truth to life itself.

He had such a passion for photography. Two postings I did for him earlier, Andrew Follows: Carmania (February 2016) and Andrew Follows: Carmania 2 (June 2016) express what I most loved about Andrew as a person and as a photographer… how he just got so much out of life, and how he saw the world with crystal clear focus and clarity – in these two postings combining his two great passions, cars and photography. I still think these are some of the best art car photographs I have ever seen. There is an immediacy and directness to them, a time and space of great perception. Again, in his new exhibition we feel his love in seeing the world through the camera, offering his unique and fragmented perspective to the viewer, which comes together in the final, holistic image.

Above all Andrew brought people together to enable his projects through his charisma, cheekiness and charm, his get up and go for what he was doing and what he wanted to achieve. He brought everyone along for the ride. Andrew Andrew Andrew what a spirit young man… what energy, love, passion, commitment and talent. We had some fabulous times together. I loved how you taught me as much as I taught you. About life, about photography, and looking and seeing the world. I’m so glad I got to see you at the opening on Saturday and give you a kiss and a hug.

Andrew speaks truth to photography, for that was his nature. In so doing he speaks truth to life itself.

With thanks to Dishan Marikar, Magnet Galleries Melbourne, Fiona Cook and everyone who helped with the exhibition and book. Condolences to all family and friends.

Dr Marcus Bunyan xx


Many thankx to Andrew Follows, Magnet Galleries Melbourne and Dishan Marikar for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. The book from the exhibition is available to buy from the gallery as are prints, and funds raised from this show will benefit artists with disability in the future with a biennial prize to be awarded from the Andrew Follows Trust. For more information about the book please see the Magnet Galleries Melbourne website.

 

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Mercedes-Benz 230SL' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Mercedes-Benz 230SL
2019
Photos used: 11
Year of manufacture: 1964

 

Andrew Follows 'Elements of Focus' exhibition book cover

 

Elements of Focus exhibition book cover

 

Andrew Follows 'Elements of Focus' exhibition book cover and postcards

 

Elements of Focus exhibition book cover and postcards

 

Andrew Follows 'Elements of Focus' exhibition postcards

 

Elements of Focus exhibition postcards

 

Crowd at the opening of Andrew Follows' 'Elements of Focus' exhibition at Magnet Galleries Melbourne

 

Crowd at the opening of Andrew Follows’ Elements of Focus exhibition at Magnet Galleries Melbourne
Photo: Michael Silver

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Ferrari F12tdf' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Ferrari F12tdf
2019
Photos used: 12
Year of manufacture: 2017

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Ferrari F12tdf' 2019 (detail)

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Ferrari F12tdf' 2019 (detail)

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Ferrari F12tdf (details)
2019
Photos used: 12
Year of manufacture: 2017

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (unrestored)' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (unrestored)
2019
Photos used: 5
Year of manufacture: 2004

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (restored)' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (restored)
2019
Photos used: 13
Year of manufacture: 2004

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Ferrari Enzo' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Ferrari Enzo
2019
Photos used: 10
Year of manufacture: 2003

 

Andrew Follows with his guide dog Leo and his mentor Dishan Marikar

 

Andrew Follows with his guide dog Leo and his mentor Dishan Marikar at the opening of the exhibition Elements of Focus at Magnet Galleries Melbourne

 

 

Elements of Focus is a very important project that brings together my two passions – motor cars and photography. The cars in this project range from some of the rarest to even a few more common examples, but they are being photographed and presented in a way that has never been seen before.

Being a legally blind photographer, who has tunnel vision, my images offer the viewer a different perspective through my lens and take them on a visual journey. I have an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a condition which has rendered one eye completely blind with ever diminishing tunnel vision in the other. I can see three metres to most people’s seventy metres, and that through a foggy haze.

My tunnel vision means that I can’t see the object as a whole when I’m photographing a car, I take shots of each individual element of the car, and then piece the final image together like a jigsaw puzzle.

For this very exciting photographic project, I have been mentored by Dishan Marikar, one of the best car photographers in Melbourne. I am very honoured and proud to have Dishan teach me new skills in the area of photography he is so well known for.

For those of you may not know, I have been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus and Elements of Focus may be the last exhibition that I will be able to celebrate with you as I am not well. I’d love to share this important exhibition with my friends, peers and colleagues. Thank you for being part of my journey in photography and life.

Andrew Follows

Text from the Andrew Follows website November 7, 2019 [Online] Cited Saturday 07/12/2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Porsche 991 911 GT2 RS' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Porsche 991 911
GT2 RS

2019
Photos used: 16
Year of manufacture: 2018

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Lamborghini Diablo Roadster' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Lamborghini Diablo Roadster
2019
Photos used: 21
Year of manufacture: 1999

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Frazer Nash TT' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Frazer Nash TT
2019
Photos used: 11
Year of manufacture: 1932

 

 

Elements Of Focus is a very important project that brings together the two passions of Andrew Follows: motor cars and photography. The cars in this project range from some of the rarest in Australia to even a few common examples, but they are being photographed and presented in a way that has never been seen before. Being a legally blind photographer with tunnel vision, Andrew’s images offer viewers a different perspective through his lens as he takes them on a visual journey.

“My tunnel vision means that I can’t see the object as a whole. When I’m photographing a car, I take shots of each individual element of the car, and then piece the final image together like a jigsaw puzzle.”

For this very exciting photographic project, Andrew has been mentored by Dishan Marikar, one of the best car photographers in Melbourne.

The exhibition is being held in December at Magnet Gallery in Docklands, a highly respected photography gallery in Melbourne.

“I am very honoured and proud to have Dishan teach me new skills in the area of photography he is so well known for. The team at Magnet has been great to work with and I am very excited to showcase my Elements Of Focus project there.”

Text from the Magnet Galleries Melbourne website [Online] Cited Saturday 07/12/2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Citroën DS21 Safari' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Citroën DS21 Safari
2019
Photos used: 10
Year of manufacture: 1971

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Citroën DS21 Safari' 2019 (detail)

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Citroën DS21 Safari' 2019 (detail)

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Citroën DS21 Safari (details)
2019
Photos used: 10
Year of manufacture: 1971

 

Installation view of Andrew Follows 'Citroën DS21 Safari' 2019 at the exhibition 'Elements of Focus' at Magnet Galleries Melbourne

Installation view of Andrew Follows 'Citroën DS21 Safari' 2019 at the exhibition 'Elements of Focus' at Magnet Galleries Melbourne

 

Installation views of Andrew Follows Citroën DS21 Safari 2019 at the exhibition Elements of Focus at Magnet Galleries Melbourne

 

Pages from the 'Elements of Focus' book showing photographic fragmentation and stitching process

Pages from the 'Elements of Focus' book showing photographic fragmentation and stitching process

Pages from the 'Elements of Focus' book showing photographic fragmentation and stitching process

 

Pages from the Elements of Focus book showing photographic fragmentation and stitching process

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Porsche 964 991 Turbo 3.6' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Porsche 964 991 Turbo 3.6
2019
Photos used: 9
Year of manufacture: 1994

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019) 'Maserati Merak SS' 2019

 

Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Maserati Merak SS
2019
Photos used: 9
Year of manufacture: 1978

 

Marcus Bunyan with his friend Andrew Follows at the opening of his exhibition 'Elements of Focus'

 

Marcus Bunyan with his friend Andrew Follows at the opening of his exhibition Elements of Focus at Magnet Galleries Melbourne

 

 

Magnet Galleries Melbourne
SC G19 Wharf St, The District,
Docklands, Victoria, 3008
Australia
Phone: +61 (0) 3 8589 0371

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Friday 11am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 11am – 4pm

Andrew Follows Photographer website

Magnet Galleries Melbourne website

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Exhibition: ‘John Pfahl Altered Landscapes’ at Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, California

Exhibition dates: 5th November – 13th December, 2019

 

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Wave, Lave, Lace, Pescadero Beach, California' 1978 from the exhibition 'John Pfahl Altered Landscapes' at Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, California, Nov - Dec, 2019

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Wave, Lave, Lace, Pescadero Beach, California
1978
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

 

I like these photographs, I like them a lot.

Unlike most conceptual art where you have to read a heavy tome of text to understand, actually, the work is about very little and means even less – here, there is humour, wit, intelligence and insight into the condition of our existence on this earth.

Using the optics of the large format camera to enhance perspective, Pfahl projects (his) music into the cosmos. The mark making is lightly made on the landscape, as in Triangle, Bermuda or Australian Pines, Fort DeSoto, Florida. Imagine having the impulse, the creativity, to make that gesture, to wrap silver foil around the trees in the latter image at just that height. A brilliant intervention into the “natural” (i.e. constructed) scene. Often used in his photographs is the Sowilō or the s-rune, the runic symbol ϟ meaning “sun”.

In 1981, Peter C. Bunnell observes in his Introduction to James Alinder’s book Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl, “Our momentary, fragmented and captured vision of disorder and emotion has been replaced by a cool rendering of purposefulness as if to accord another dimension of positivism to the moving force of contemporary human awareness. Pfahl’s work is an attack on the problems of space and, ultimately, existence from a rational point of view.”

Forty years later, these photographs seem not so much rational, or picturesque, as spiritual. The human construction touches the earth lightly, almost reverentially. As Pfahl notes, utmost care is taken not to alter the actual subject in a way he would consider harmful to his positivist respect for nature. In this delicate footprint, these photographs are very prescient of the dangers of our own Anthropocene – of climate change, of raging bushfires, drought, flood and bio-exinction. We are literally destroying this planet and its creatures. Bunnell states, “Pfahl’s imagery is a sure manifestation of the belief that society can produce an art suitable to its nature and, in this case, a specific kind of photographic presence that expresses current societal values.”

Unfortunately, it’s all too late. The lesson has not been learned.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to Joseph Bellows Gallery for allowing me to publish the photographs and the text (reproduced with permission) in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Moonrise over Pie Pan, Capitol Reef National Park' 1977 from the exhibition 'John Pfahl Altered Landscapes' at Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, California, Nov - Dec, 2019

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Moonrise over Pie Pan, Capitol Reef National Park
1977
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Haystack Cone, Freeport, Maine' 1976 from the exhibition 'John Pfahl Altered Landscapes' at Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, California, Nov - Dec, 2019

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Haystack Cone, Freeport, Maine
1976
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Pink Rock Rectangle, Lewiston, New York' 1975

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Pink Rock Rectangle, Lewiston, New York
1975
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Triangle, Bermuda' 1975

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Triangle, Bermuda
1975
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Australian Pines, Fort DeSoto, Florida' 1977

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Australian Pines, Fort DeSoto, Florida
1977
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

 

Joseph Bellows Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming solo exhibition, John Pfahl Altered Landscapes. The exhibition will open November 5th and continue thru December 13th, 2019. A reception is scheduled for November 23rd, from 5-8 pm. The exhibition will present a selection of vintage dye transfer colour photographs that the artist printed in the late 1970s, as well as larger archival pigment prints of the series most celebrated images.

In his series Altered Landscapes, Pfahl physically changes the environment, fabricating the view to question our perception of the landscape through added elements that reference mark-making devices associated with photographs, maps, plans, and diagrams. These gestures sometimes repeat strong formal components; fill in information suggested by the scene, or act upon information external to the photograph itself. The picturesque scenes are at once interrupted and completed by the artist’s involvement in creating the photograph.

John Pfahl was born in 1939 in New York, New York and raised in New Jersey. He studied art at Syracuse University, receiving a B.F.A. in 1961 and a M.A. from the School of Communications of the same university in 1968. His position in photography has been one of both a celebrated artist and an important educator. Pfahl taught photography for over decade at the Rochester Institute of Technology, educating many now important contemporary photographers and has served as a longtime adjunct professor in the Visual Studies department of the University of Buffalo. In 2009, he was the Honored Educator of the Year by the Society for Photographic Education. Other honours include two National Endowment for the Arts, Photographer’s Fellowships.

His work is in numerous prominent collections, including: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, George Eastman House, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Museum of Modern Art, Center for Creative Photography, Princeton University Art Museum, among others.

Monographs on Pfahls’s work include Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Friends of Photography 1982), Picture Windows (New York Graphic Society 1987), A Distanced Land (UNM/Albright-Knox Gallery 1990), Permutations on the Picturesque (Lightwork 1997) and Waterfall (Nazraeli Press 2000), and Extreme Horticulture (Verlag 2003).

Press release from the Joseph Bellows Gallery [Online] Cited 09/11/2019

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Slanting Forest, Lewiston, New York' 1975

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Slanting Forest, Lewiston, New York
1975
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Live Oak Lightning, Lompoc, California' 1978

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Live Oak Lightning, Lompoc, California
1978
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Tracks, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah' 1977

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Tracks, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
1977
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Monument Valley with Red String, Monument Valley, Utah' 1977

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Monument Valley with Red String, Monument Valley, Utah
1977
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

Introduction

Peter C. Bunnell

 

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

Peter C. Bunnell. "Introduction," from James Alinder (ed.,). 'Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26)'

 

Peter C. Bunnell. “Introduction,” from James Alinder (ed.,). Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl (Untitled Series, No. 26). Friends of Photography / Robert Freidus Gallery, June 1, 1981

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Six Oranges, Buffalo, New York' 1975

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Six Oranges, Buffalo, New York
1975
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Red Setters in Red Field, Charlotte, North Carolina' 1976

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Red Setters in Red Field, Charlotte, North Carolina
1976
Vintage dye transfer print
7 3/4 x 10 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Roan Mounting Lightning, Roan Mountain, North Carolina' 1977

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Roan Mounting Lightning, Roan Mountain, North Carolina
1977
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Blue Right Angle, Buffalo, New York' 1978

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Blue Right Angle, Buffalo, New York
1978
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Tree and Mountain Cleft, Boulder, Colorado' 1977

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Tree and Mountain Cleft, Boulder, Colorado
1977
Archival pigment print
16 x 20 inches

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020) 'Canyon Point, Zion Canyon National Park, Utah' 1977

 

John Pfahl (American, 1939-2020)
Canyon Point, Zion Canyon National Park, Utah
1977
Archival pigment print
20 x 16 inches

 

 

Joseph Bellows Gallery
7661 Girrard Avenue
La Jolla, California
Phone: 858 456 5620

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 5pm and by appointment

Joseph Bellows Gallery website

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World AIDS Day 2019

December 2019

 

 

Marcus Bunyan (Australian, b. 1958) 'How will it be when you have changed' 1994

 

Marcus Bunyan (Australian, b. 1958)
How will it be when you have changed
1994
Silver gelatin photograph
© Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Remembering all my lovers, friends, and everyone who has passed or been affected by this disease on World AIDS Day.

To survive the initial wave was just luck of the draw. We lost so many people. Thinking of you all.

Marcus xx

 

The titles from this period tend to be poetic, pragmatic or composed, like Japanese haiku. The two photographs How will it be when you have changed and Tell me your face before you were born (1994, above) were included in the seminal exhibition Don’t Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS at the National Gallery of Australia in 1994. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

Marcus Bunyan (Australian, b. 1958) 'Tell me your face before you were born' 1994

 

Marcus Bunyan (Australian, b. 1958)
Tell me your face before you were born
1994
Silver gelatin photograph
© Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Marcus Bunyan black and white archive page

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Exhibition: ‘Helga Paris, Photographer’ at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Exhibition dates: 8th November, 2019 – 12th January, 2020

Curator: Inka Schube

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Prerow' 1960s from the exhibition 'Helga Paris, Photographer' at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Nov 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Prerow
1960s
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

 

A couple of years ago I was in Paris, searching for French peasant work clothes of the 1950s in the trendy secondhand shops of the Marais. It took me forever but I eventually found one blue shirt that fitted me… only one. Battered, patched up, but still present after all these years – hard wearing, practical, and tough. But also soft and pliable like a second skin, with its own look and feel, its own distinctive aesthetic. I knew what I wanted, I found it… or it found me. A treasure.

The same could be said of the photographs of Helga Paris. Her photographs picture the tough, hard existence of life in postwar East Germany but there is a fond affection for subject matter in the cameras engagement. Paris approaches her subjects, whether city or people, with directness but it is also a dialogue between the artist and her subjects which “give the viewer an insight into a moment of the everyday lives of an East German resident.”

“Paris opened herself to the worker’s world she found in Prenzlauer Berg, and often took photographs in the immediate surroundings – of friends and neighbours, the area’s old and run-down streets, and the melancholic vitality of the regulars in Berlin’s bars and cafés. The people in her photographs look deeply rooted, as if they had moved to the area with the intention of never going away.”

Misty cobbled corners, people in bars, in clubs, at work, on the street. Much as Ara Güler did for Istanbul (in a more romantic way), Paris captures the essence of an ecosystem, the culture and survival that was the living, behind the Iron Curtain. There is melancholy aplenty, the brooding streets with swooping pigeons and ubiquitous Trabant, all dark in their small sulkiness. There are beautiful boys with Anarchy stencilled on their jumper desiring liberated life, and reflective women deep in their own thoughts. Naira! Naira! Smoking a fag, with drunk-eyed pictures of a child on dirty wall, behind. Oh Naira, of what were you thinking! What brought you to this place?

There is sullenness, compassion, bohemians, students and countercultural intellectuals all pictured with her probing mind. If you could say that a subject finds an artist then this is that aphorism in full technicolor. Engaged and engaging, these essential images stand the test of time – as relevant now in an era of neo-liberal fascism as they ever were in the past.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the Akademie der Künste for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'No title' 1974 From the series 'Müllfahrer' (Garbage Drivers) from the exhibition 'Helga Paris, Photographer' at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Nov 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1974
From the series Müllfahrer (Garbage Drivers)
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Selbst im Spiegel' (Self-Portrait in the Mirror) 1971 from the exhibition 'Helga Paris, Photographer' at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Nov 2019 - Jan 2020

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Selbst im Spiegel (Self-Portrait in the Mirror)
1971
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'No title' 1975 From the series 'Berliner Kneipen' (Berlin Pubs)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1975
From the series Berliner Kneipen (Berlin Pubs)
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Hund, Immanuelkirchstr 1970s' (Berlin 1974-1982)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Hund, Immanuelkirchstr. (Dog, Immanuelkirchstrasse)
1970s
From Berlin 1974-1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Winsstraße mit Taube' (Winsstrasse with Pigeon) 1970s

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Winsstraße mit Taube (Winsstrasse with Pigeon)
1970s
From Berlin 1974-1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Marienburger Strasse' 1970s (Berlin 1974-1982)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Marienburger Strasse
1970s
From Berlin 1974-1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Jugendweihe René Köstner' (Berlin 1974-1982)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Jugendweihe René Köstner
1970s
From Berlin 1974-1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Meteln (Christa and Gerhard Wolf)' 1977

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Meteln (Christa and Gerhard Wolf)
1977
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (born in 1938 in Goleniów, Poland) occupies an outstanding position in German photography. Her oeuvre exhibits the poetry of a Henri Cartier-Bresson as well as the austerity of an August Sander or Renger-Patzsch. Paris, who has lived in Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin since 1966, has chronicled the long history of postwar East Germany. For more than three decades she has directed her gentle yet precise gaze toward the people who live it. Her photographs tell of the melancholy vitality of East Berlin corner pubs and the poetic tristesse of the old streetcars of the seventies. We encounter garbage truck drivers, stubbornly furious or calm teenagers, and proud female textile mill workers. We travel through Georgia and Siebenbürgen, and meander through the central German industrial city of Halle, a “diva in gray.” But these photographs also tell of the end of the postwar era, of the search for images of childhood and their retrieval.

Text from the catalogue to the exhibition

 

 

Helga Paris: Fotografie from arts-news on Vimeo

 

Fotografie is a retrospective look at the work of German photographer, Helga Paris. Exhibiting a collection of photos taken in East Germany in the postwar period, Paris’s work is considered to be one of the most revealing and compassionate bodies of work reflecting life in Germany at that time. Going beyond a simple ‘social study’, Paris’s technique was simply to engage with her subjects, rather than take on the role of the distant street photographer. In making this connection, the result has been a collection of photos that give the viewer an insight into a moment of the everyday lives of an East German resident.

Starting in the 60s, Helga Paris took an interest in photography and began teaching herself the basics. Paris came from a fashion and art background, but it was her interest in the everyday lives of the East Berlin people, during the postwar period that made her want to capture that on film.

Text from the Vimeo website

 

Helga Paris (German, born Poland, 1938) 'Club' 1981

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Club
1981
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Berliner Kneipen' From the series 'Berlin' 1974-1982

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Berliner Kneipen (Berlin pubs)
From the series Berlin 1974-1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Since 1966 Helga Paris has lived in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg, a traditionally working class district that in the DDR days had become a refuge for bohemians, students and countercultural intellectuals, condoned by the authorities. Here she became a chronicler of post-war East Germany. Paris opened herself to the worker’s world she found in Prenzlauer Berg, and often took photographs in the immediate surroundings – of friends and neighbours, the area’s old and run-down streets, and the melancholic vitality of the regulars in Berlin’s bars and cafés. The people in her photographs look deeply rooted, as if they had moved to the area with the intention of never going away. Their faces express both their exhaustion and their lust for life.

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Sven' 1981-82 From the series 'Berliner Jugendliche' (Berlin Youth)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Sven
1981-1982
From the series Berliner Jugendliche (Berlin Youth)
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Pauer' From the series 'Berlin Youth'

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Pauer
From the series Berlin Youth
1981-1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Ramona' 1982

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Ramona
1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Ramona, Kollwitzstrasse' 1982

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Ramona, Kollwitzstrasse
1982
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, B. 1938) 'Naira' 1982 From the series 'Georgien' (Georgia)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Naira
1982
From the series Georgien (Georgia)
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'No title' 1983-1985 From the series 'Houses and Faces, Halle' 1983-1985

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1983-1985
From the series Häuser und Gesichter, Halle / Houses and Faces, Halle 1983-1985
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Grosse Klausstrasse Flutgasse' (Häuser und Gesichter Halle 1983-1985)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Grosse Klausstrasse Flutgasse
1983-1985
From the series Häuser und Gesichter, Halle / Houses and Faces, Halle 1983-1985
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Zwei Frauen' (Häuser und Gesichter Halle 1983-1985)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Zwei Frauen (Two Women)
1983-1985
From the series Häuser und Gesichter, Halle / Houses and Faces, Halle 1983-1985
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'No title' 1983-1985 From the series 'Houses and Faces, Halle'

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1983-1985
From the series Houses and Faces, Halle 1983-1985
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

 

From 8 November 2019 to 12 January 2020 at its exhibition halls at Pariser Platz, the Akademie der Künste will present the photographic work of Helga Paris from 1968 to 2011. Featuring 275 works, including many individual images and series that are to be shown for the first time, this will be her most comprehensive exhibition to date and the first retrospective of the artist in her home city of Berlin in 25 years. Excerpts from the extensive Leipzig, Hauptbahnhof (1981), Moskau (1991/1992) and Mein Alex (2011) series will be seen for the first time, among others.

In addition to the photographer’s special ability to make ever-changing compressed contemporary history tangible in her images and series over the course of decades, it is her tender, graceful and heavily nuanced black-and-white modulations expressing social empathy that make her work unmistakable.

Helga Paris was born in 1938 in Gollnow, Pomerania (today Polish town of Goleniów), and grew up in Zossen near Berlin. She began her work as a self-taught photographer in the 1960s. She became one of the key chroniclers of life in East Berlin with images of her neighbourhood in the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg, pictures of pub-goers, sanitation workers, the women from the VEB Treffmodelle clothing factory, artists, punks, children from Hellersdorf and passers-by from Alexanderplatz. Helga Paris also took photographs in Transylvania (1980), Georgia (1982) and the city of Halle (1983-1985), where she produced her Diva in Grau series that was banned from being shown until 1989/1990, as well as in Volgograd (1990), New York (1995) and Poland (1996/1997), among others. Helga Paris has been a member of the Film and Media Art Section of the Akademie der Künste since 1996.

The curator of the exhibition is art historian Inka Schube, who has worked with Helga Paris on numerous occasions. Filmmaker Helke Misselwitz will present an installation involving interviews with Helga Paris on the topics of origin, the changing city and her work as a photographer in East Germany and up into the early 21st century.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the Spector Books publishing house, Leipzig has released the photography book Helga Paris. Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, 1981.

An exhibition by the Akademie der Künste in cooperation with the ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), with the kind support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung that allowed the living legacy to be indexed and new prints of three previously unpublished series to be made, as well as the DEFA-Foundation.

Press release from the Akademie der Künste website [Online] Cited 11/11/2019

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Self-portraits' 1981-1989

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Self-portraits
1981-1989
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Frauen im Bekleidungswerk Treff-Modelle' 1984

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Frauen im Bekleidungswerk Treff-Modelle
1984
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Frauen im Bekleidungswerk Treff-Modelle' 1984

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Frauen im Bekleidungswerk Treff-Modelle
1984
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

In the early 1980s the DDR’s Gesellschaft für Fotografie im Kulturbund gave professional photographers commissions that allowed them to work on projects of their own choosing. These commissions not only gave photographers financial security, but also opened doors to places where, under normal circumstances, only media loyal to the regime had been allowed to work. Helga Paris chose to photograph a clothing factory, Treff-Modelle VEB in Berlin, where she herself had had some work experience during her fashion design studies. There she portrayed the factory’s female workers, eliciting a wide variety of subtle reactions from them: from self-confident and open to confrontational and defensive.

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Frauen im Bekleidungswerk Treff-Modelle' 1984

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1984
Gelatin silver print
From the series Frauen im Bekleidungswerk VEB Treffmodelle Berlin (Women at the Clothing factory VEB Treffmodelle Berlin)
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

With around 275 photographs from the period of 1968 till 2011 – including numerous single frames and series shown for the first time – the exhibition of Helga Paris at the Akademie der Künste on Pariser Platz is the photographer’s most comprehensive to date. It is the first retrospective of Paris’ work in her home city of Berlin in 25 years.

Having lived in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district since 1966, Helga Paris (born 1938) began taking photos of people in her neighbourhood in the early 1970s. She found her photographic motifs in flats, pubs, break rooms and factory halls, or on the streets and in train stations. With a background in modernist painting, theatre and poetry as well as early Soviet, Italian and French cinema, the autodidact photographer has spent the last four and a half decades developing an extensive oeuvre of delicate, nuanced black-and-white photography.

But she is not only a chronicler of Prenzlauer Berg. Helga Paris also has taken photos in Halle, Leipzig, Transylvania, Georgia, Moscow, Volgograd and New York. There, as in her local neighbourhood, she constantly explores how it feels “to be in history”, and how the respective circumstances are reflected at the most private level. Helga Paris’s imagery has a particular poetic approachability, in part because it forgoes all ideological interpretations; her gaze suggests profound solidarity.

For the exhibition, the director Helke Misselwitz has designed a documentary film triptych, in which she makes it possible to experience how the life and work of Helga Paris are both interwoven and interdependent. Misselwitz traces a wide arc from the photographer’s childhood to the present; from Prenzlauer Berg to sites around the world; and from Paris’ close-ups to her farsighted vision.

Text from the Akademie der Künste website [Online] Cited 11/11/2019

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Sohn des Architekten Melnikow' 1991/92

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Sohn des Architekten Melnikow (Son of the architect Melnikov)
1991-1992
From the series Moskau 1991-1992
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'No title' 1991/92 From the series 'Moscow' 1991-92

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1991-1992
From the series Moscow 1991-1992
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

As a result of the Cold War, the remarkable oeuvre of the German photographer Helga Paris (1938) was long almost unknown west of the Iron Curtain. While Paris enjoyed widespread popularity in East Germany, her photographs rarely reached a public in the West. Although her work, with its quite intimate glimpses of daily life in East Germany, is strongly linked to the course of her own life, its expressiveness is universal. The empathy of her gaze makes it easy for us to imagine ourselves in the people and places she photographed.

Resilience

On one hand Helga Paris’ photographs are about life in the German Democratic Republic (DDR), where the Second World War and the country’s communist regime brought restriction, loss, destruction and decline in their wake. On the other they show the gaze of a photographer who had been born in Pommeren (now in Poland), who grew up close to postwar Berlin, and who faced the world with resilience, curiosity and compassion. In 1966 Paris moved for good to Prenzlauer Berg in East Berlin, a traditionally working-class district that had become a refuge for bohemians, students and countercultural intellectuals, closely watched but condoned by the authorities. Here she became a chronicler of postwar East Germany. She often worked in the immediate surroundings – taking photographs of friends and neighbours, on the street, and in bars and cafés.

Hidden tensions

Although in the 1970s and 1980s Helga Paris also photographed in Romania, Poland and Georgia, the accent in the Huis Marseille exhibition is on East Germany before and after the Wende (1989-1990). She created the series Berliner Jugendliche (Berlin Youth) in 1980-1981, when her own children were teenagers, portraying youngsters who believed in an alternative way of life and who went to the concerts given by independent bands – a sort of East German variant of the Western punk scene. Their anarchic lifestyle did not go unnoticed by the regime, and many of those she portrayed also spent some time in prison. Paris subtly but revealingly captures the hidden tensions of the time in the teenagers’ postures, gestures, and facial expressions. She elicited a similar scale of reactions in the workers she photographed for the series Frauen im Bekleidungswerk VEB Treffmodelle Berlin (Women at the textile factory VEB Models, 1984): from self-confident and open to confrontational and defensive.

Run-down

In the same period Helga Paris documented the decline of the old city centre of Halle, interspersing photos of the city’s long-neglected buildings and streets with portraits of its residents – who only allowed themselves to be photographed if they had a say in how their portraits were taken. The impoverishment of Halle was only partly the result of the faltering East German economy; the government was also deliberately allowing the historic centre of Halle and other East German cities to become rundown in order to compel their populations to move into modern flats on urban peripheries. The exhibition Häuser und Gesichter: Halle 1983-85 was banned by the regime in 1987; it was 1990 before the people of Halle could see the photographs for themselves.

 

Helga Paris was born Helga Steffens in 1938 in Gollnow, Pommeren, now known as Goleniów in Poland. At the end of the war she fled with her family to Zossen, her father’s native city. She first came into contact with photography through an aunt who worked in a photographic laboratory. Between 1956 and 1960 she studied fashion design at the Fachschule für Bekleidung in Berlin. There she met the artist Ronald Paris, to whom she was married between 1961 and 1974, and with whom she had two children.

Via the Arbeiter- und Studententheater in Berlin, for which she made costumes, Paris came into contact with the later documentary maker Peter Voigt, who encouraged her to take more photographs. To improve her techniques, from 1967 to 1968 she worked in the Deutsche Werbeund Anzeigengesellschaft DEWAG photographic laboratory. She took many photographs in the theatre, such as productions of the Volksbühne, as her husband was also its set designer. In later years she would say that this experience had given her a solid foundation for her attitude to space as a street photographer.

Paris’s work was first exhibited in 1978, in the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden. In 1996 she became a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Her self-portraits were a great success at the Kunst in der DDR exhibition in the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin (2003), and in 2004 Helga Paris was awarded the prestigious Hannah-Höch-Preis for a lifetime of achievement in the arts.

Press release from Huis Marseille for the exhibition Helga Paris / East Germany 1974-1998 Cited 26/11/2019

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Erinnerung an Z' (Memory of Z) 1994

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Erinnerung an Z (Memory of Z)
1994
Gelatin silver print
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'No title' 1998 From the series 'Hellersdorf'

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
No title
1998
Gelatin silver print
From the series Hellersdorf
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Hellersdorf #2' 1998

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Hellersdorf #2
1998
Gelatin silver print
From the series Hellersdorf
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Hellersdorf #7' 1998

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Hellersdorf #7
1998
Gelatin silver print
From the series Hellersdorf
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938) 'Hellersdorf #8' 1998

 

Helga Paris (German born Poland, b. 1938)
Hellersdorf #8
1998
Gelatin silver print
From the series Hellersdorf
Photo: © Helga Paris
Source: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

 

 

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