JOSEF BREITENBACH: MUNICH, PARIS, NEW YORK

Chicago, IL: Stephen Daiter Gallery, 2003. First Edition. First Printing.. Softcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. Chicago, IL: Stephen Daiter Gallery, 2003. Softcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 32 pages. Exhibition Catalog. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. There is no ISBN. The Exhibition Catalog is now scarce. A brilliant production by David W. Williams: Regular-sized volume format. Plain white softcovers, as issued. Photographs by Josef Breitenbach. Essay by Paul Berlanga. Biography, Bibliography, and Selected Exhibitions appended at the end. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. In integral pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine and very large flaps, as issued. Published on the occasion of the landmark exhibition of the same name held at the Stephen Daiter Gallery Chicago from September 5 through November 1, 2003. Presents "Josef Breitenbach: Munich, Paris, New York". A delectable sampling of the great photographer's work. Breitenbach lived a peripatetic life. Born in Germany, he was educated in Munich and began his career there. The rise of the Nazis forced him, a Jew, to flee to Paris, where he eked out a living taking studio portraits. His portraits of such figures as James Joyce, Max Ernst, and Bertolt Brecht were taken during this brief, tumultuous period. With the ascension of the Vichy Government, Breitenbach had to flee again, this time just barely making it to the United States, where he spent the rest of his life. Josef Breitenbach was the classic Modernist case: A tough-minded, serious, soulful artist whose work was ahead of its time even as he absorbed whatever he found useful among the Movements swirling around him. He is now considered a major forerunner of Andy Warhol in his application of color to black-and-white photographs through toning and bromoil transfer. His Bauhaus-inspired work, especially the photograms (such as "Bird, New York, 1948") are masterpieces that have all the color, warmth, and detail of a painting combined with the clarity, precision, and fluidity of a photograph. Every picture in this Exhibition Catalog is museum-quality, and it is nothing less than a blessing that they have been discovered at last for what they are: The work of a great artist, not just a great photographer. An absolute "must-have" title for Josef Breitenbach collectors. This title is a contemporary art photography classic. This is one of few copies of the Exhibition Catalog still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. 28 plates. One of the greatest artist/photographers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOSEF BREITENBACH TITLE IN OUR CATALOG).