Josef Breitenbach: Photographien 

(1996)

First edition. First impression.

Published for the occassion of the retrospective exhibition Josef Breitenbach: Photographien that took place between 14th July- 3 September 1996 at  Moritzburg Art Museum, Halle, and 30th November 1996- 16th February 1997 at Munich City Museum.

Medium format hardcover in fine condition. Minor shelf wear to the front top edge of the dust jacket. Some age toning and minor marks to back of dust jacket. Otherwise, pages clean and binding firm. 

35 x 25cm

231 pages

About

Published alongside a major retrospective of Breitenbach's work between the 1930s-1950s, this hefty title includes portraits, nudes and landscapes including accompanying German language essays and captions.

Josef Breitenbach was a German artist best known for his experimental photography. In his work, the artist played with a number of techniques, including bleaching, color printing, montage, solarization, and double exposure, to explore the ways in which light and color could alter an image. 

Born on April 3, 1896 in Munich, Germany to a wine merchant family of Jewish descent, he went on to study philosophy and art history at the Ludwig-Maximillian University in Munich. After completing his education, he began photographing for the Social Democratic Party in Bavaria after World War I. Breitenbach fled Germany during the Nazi’s rise to power due to his political allegiances and Jewish heritage in August of 1933, after nearly being arrested by the Strurmabteilung (SA). After living in Paris for six years, he immigrated to New York, where he was included in the 1955 exhibition “The Family of Man” at The Museum of Modern Art. Breitenbach died on October 7, 1984 in New York, NY. Today, Breitenbach’s works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.