Resources for Chapter 2 —
Undressing Fine Art
Ansel Adams (1902-1984)
American landscape photographer who developed the Zone System and co-founder of Group f/64 with Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. At one point, f/64 curated the photography department at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York.)
anseladams.com
Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs, Ansel Adams (pub), 2007
Diane Arbus (1923-1971)
American portrait photographer best known for her quirky portraits of people on the fringes of society. Studied photography with Lisette Model at The New School in New York, and with Alexey Brodovitch and Richard Avedon. Work attributed to she and her husband appeared in the Family of Man exhibit.
jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arbus.html
Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph by Doon Arbus, Aperture, 2005
Diane Arbus Revelations, Random House, 2003
Armory Show, New York
An international art fair founded by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. The first show opened February 17, 1913 at New York City's 69th Regiment Armory. The show continues to be an important annual exhibition for the art world.
thearmoryshow.com
Eugène Atget (1857-1927)
French photographer who documented the streets of Paris, often supplying his images as reference materials for artists such as Man Ray, Matisse, and Picasso. His importance as a photographer in his own right was advanced by American photographer Bernice Abbott.
museum.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/atget/
Atget, Paris, Taschen; 25th edition, 2008
Atget by John Szarkowski, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2004
John Berger
Storyteller, essayist, novelist, screenwriter, dramatist and critic who is well known for his 1972 BBC Television Series and companion book entitled Ways of Seeing. The book explores the psychological and social implications of visual imagery.
johnberger.org
Guy Bourdin (1928-1991)
Influential fashion photographer known for his innovative work for Vogue, Charles Jourdan, Chanel, Issey Miyake, and Gianni Versace. Winner of the Infinity Award from International Center of Photography in 1988.
guybourdin.org
Guy Bourdin by Alison M. Gingeras, Phaidon, 2006
Exhibit A: Guy Bourdin by Luc Sante, Bulfinch, 2001
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)
Famous for "The Decisive Moment," Cartier-Bresson was a pioneer of street photography and reportage and a founder of Magnum. He was an early adopter of the Leica 35mm format, and shot exclusively with a 50mm lens. He retired from photography in 1975, and spent the rest of his life drawing and painting.
henricartierbresson.org
Henri Cartier-Bresson (Aperture Masters of Photography), Aperture, 2005
The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Aperture 2005
Kenneth Clark (1903-1983)
Art historian and Director of the National Gallery in London.
The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form by Kenneth Clark, Princeton University Press, 1972
Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976)
One of the best known women photographers, Cunningham's impressive body of work includes nudes and garden flowers. One of her first photographs was a 1906 nude self-portrait. She was a founder of Group f/64 with Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.
imogencunningham.com
Imogen Cunningham: Ideas without End A Life and Photographs by Richard Lorenz, Chronicle Books, 1993
Imogen Cunningham: On the Body by Richard Lorenz, Bulfinch, 2001
Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Influential photographer for his cinematic images that combine the documentary mode with psychology and the banal. MFA, photography from Yale in 1979. He is also known for the First Amendment case Nussenzweig v. DiCorcia.
davidzwirner.com/artists/115/selected_works_1.htm
icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/dicorcia/
Heads by Philip-Lorca DiCorcia, Luc Sante, PaceWildenstein, Steidl, 2001
Philip-Lorca diCorcia by Peter Galassi, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2003
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)
An innovator who was associated with several art movements, but avoided alliances, Duchamp's work demonstrated that art could be about ideas instead of objects. In essence, he was the first conceptual artist. His "ready-mades" included a urinal, which he titled "Fountain." His first controversial work was the painting " Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2," which was inspired by the photography of Edweard Muybridge.
marcelduchamp.net
understandingduchamp.com
Harold "Doc" Edgerton (1903-1990)
Inventor of the electronic flash, and known for his photographs that arrested split-second events such as a milk splash at the moment that it looks like a crown and a bullet ripping through a playing card.
Walker Evans (1903-1975)
Best known for his iconic work for the Farm Securities Administration, documenting the Great Depression. He and James Agee collaborated on the book "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men," published in 1941.
artnet.com/Magazine/index/kramer/kramer5-18-99.asp
Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye by Gilles Mora & John T. Hill, Harry N. Abrams, 2004
Family of Man
Groundbreaking photographic exhibition first shown at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1955.
The Family of Man by Edward Steichen, Harry N. Abrams, 1996
Fashion Theory: A Reader by Malcolm Barnard, Routledge, 2007
A collection of essays from a wide range of disciplines including sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, fashion history, gender studies and cultural history.
Lucian Freud
Figurative, realist painter known for his naked portraits. An important contemporary painter, he is the grandson of Sigmund Freud.
Lucian Freud by William Feaver, Rizzoli, 2007
Hasselbad XPan
Rangefinder panoramic camera, a joint project between Hasselblad and Fuji of Japan. The line is discontinued.
How Pictures Work
Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang, SeaStar, 2000
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Painter and founder of the Vienna Secession of 1897. His portraits are among his best known work, which included large panels and commissioned work. Much of his work featured erotic themes and used gold leaf and other elements common in decorative work. His portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer was sold for $135 million to Ronald Lauder in 2006. The work is on display at the Neue Galerie in New York.
klimt.com/klimtmuseum_main.html
iklimt.com
Gustav Klimt: Art Nouveau Visionary by Eva di Stefano, Sterling, 2008
Alberto Korda (1928-2001)
Best known for " Guerrillero Heroico," a 1960 portrait of Che Guevara. He was Fidel Castro's personal photographer for 10 years.
blythe.org/korda/
A Revolutionary Lens by Alberto Korda, Steidl, 2008
René Magritte (1898-1967)
Belgian Surrealist known for work that uses the interplay of words and images, often placing ordinary objects in unusual contexts. His work is sometimes referred to as magic realism, and Magritte thought of his work as visual poems. Many of his works emphasize the nature of representation, and were intentionally designed and titled to create confusion. The bowler hat and shrouded heads are recurring themes in his work.
magritte.be
famouspainter.com/rene.htm
lacma.org/art/magritteindex.aspx
Magritte by Jacques Meuris, Taschen, 2007
Man Ray (1890-1976)
The photographer and painter who spent most of his career in France was born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Philadelphia, and grew up in New Jersey. He is probably the best-known of the Surrealist photographers, and is famous for the techniques of Rayographs (photograms) and solarization. Two important women in his life were Kiki de Montparnasse, the muse in some of his most famous photos, and Lee Miller, a photographer in her own right who actually developed the solarization technique.
In Focus: Man Ray: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Publications, 1999
Man Ray: Photography and Its Double by Alain Sayag, Gingko Pres, 1998
Photographs by Man Ray: 105 Works, 1920-1934, Dover Publications, 1980
Masters of Photography Web Site
masters-of-photography.com
Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)
Italian-born painter and sculptor who spent most of his career in France, and was known as a nonconformist. Many of his figures feature elongated features and hollow eyes. His distinctive style was only partially influenced by primitive art. His 1917 painting, Reclining Nude was declared obscene, and the Paris police forced art gallery director Berthe Weill to remove it from an exhibition.
modigliani-foundation.org
Modigliani and His Models by Emily Braun, Royal Academy, 2006
Modigliani: The Melancholy Angel by Marc Restellini, Skira, 2003
Edweard Muybridge (1830-1904)
Pioneering photographer who is best known for his studies of human and animal movement. He also developed a predecessor to the modern movie projector called the zoopraxiscope.
River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit, Penguin, 2004
The Male and Female Figure in Motion: 60 Classic Photographic Sequences, Dover Publications, 1984
Animals in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge, Dover Publications, 1957
The Human Figure in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge, Dover Publications, 1955
Helmut Newton (1920-2004)
Influential and controversial photographer who considered himself a "gun for hire," rather than an artist. Newton is known for bringing fetish chic into the fashion mainstream. His book Sumo, published by Taschen, measures 20" x 27.5" and weighs 66 pounds. 10,000 copies were printed worldwide, and the book was its own coffee table — it came with a special stand designed by Philippe Starck.
helmutnewton.com
The Best of Helmut Newton: Selections From His Photographic Work, Schirmer/Mosel, 2004
Helmut Newton: Portraits, Schirmer Art Books, 2004
Private Property by Helmut Newton, Schirmer/Mosel, 2004
The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form by Kenneth Clark, Princeton University Press, 1972
Considered a classic, the book is based on six lectures given by Clark for the A. W. Mellon Lectures in Fine Arts series at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. The book examines the nude in art from ancient Greece through the Renaissance to the present.
Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986)
Important American painter and second wife of Alfred Steiglitz. Much of her work was inspired by New Mexico, where she settled later in life. Her themes included flowers, shells, skulls, animal bones, rocks, and landscapes, many with erotic overtones.
okeeffemuseum.org
Georgia O'Keeffe A Portrait by Alfred Stieglitz, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997
Paul Outerbridge (1896-1958)
Pioneer of color photography and teacher, who abandoned commercial photography in 1943. His nudes were ahead of their time and could not be exhibited during his lifetime, because of legal restrictions. He counted Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and Berenice Abbott among his friends. He worked as a photographer and graphic designer for French Vogue starting in 1925, and met Edward Steichen during that time, and the two developed a friendly rivalry.
Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance by Paul Martineau, Getty Publications, 2009
Paul Outerbridge: 1896-1958, Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1999
Irving Penn
Master of portraiture whose groundbreaking nudes referenced prehistoric art. The celebrated photographer is known for careful composition, owing in part to his formal training in graphic design at the Philadelphia Museum School. He studied under the influential Alexey Brodovitch, and graduated in 1938.
metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phev/ho_2002.455.5.htm
metmuseum.org; search for "Earthly Bodies"
pacemacgill.com/irvingpenn.html
Irving Penn: Platinum Prints by Sarah Greenough and Irving Penn, Yale University Press, 2005
A Notebook at Random by Irving Penn, Bullfinch, 2004
Earthly Bodies: Irving Penn's Nudes, 1949-50. by Irving Penn, Maria Morris Hambourg, Bullfinch, 2002
Irving Penn: Whitney Museum of American Art/Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, article by Sarah Boxer, ArtForum, April, 2002; online at findarticles.com, enter key phrase "Irving Penn Boxer"
Photogenic Drawing
The term used by William Henry Fox Talbot for his photographic process, the first to use a negative.
photohistories.com/photo-books/15/photogenic_drawing
The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski, The Museum of Modern Art, 2007
Based on the 1964 Museum of Modern Art exhibition and originally published in 1966, the book had been out of print, but was re-published in 2007.
Egon Schiele (1890-1918)
Drawing and painting in a style that is generally described as a mix of Expressionism and Jugendstil, or Art Nouveau his work consists largely of portraits and self-portraits. Gustav Klimt was an early friend and mentor. Schiele's work is often called grotesque, erotic, and disturbing, and much of it focuses on sex and death. His figures are often gaunt and skeletal, and feature distinctive hand gestures. In 1912, he was arrested on the charge of "immorality" and jailed for seducing a girl under the age of consent. He spent a total of 24 days in jail, 21 days awaiting trial, and was only convicted of exhibiting erotic drawings in a place that was accessible to children. During his incarceration, Schiele made 13 watercolor paintings and kept a diary detailing his difficulties and discomfort. The experience of being jailed and having one of his works burned during his trial had a profound effect on him.
Egon Schiele: Eros And Passion by Klaus Albrecht Schroder, Prestel Publishing, 2006
Egon Schiele: Drawings and Watercolors by Jane Kallir, Thames & Hudson, 2003
Egon Schiele 1890-1918 by Reinhard Steiner, Taschen, 2000
Cindy Sherman
Though Sherman's photographs feature her person, they are not self-portraits, but portrayals of characters that she invents and fully inhabits. Her work introduced a new way of engaging popular culture through art.
moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1997/sherman/
Cindy Sherman by Regis Durand, Jean-Pierre Criqui, and Laura Mulvey, Flammarion, 2007
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills by Peter Galassi and Cindy Sherman, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2003
Leland Stanford (1824-1893)
Prominent industrialist who bankrolled Edweard Muybridge's first motion study photographs. Stanford moved to California during the gold rush and was elected Governor of California in 1861.. Founder of the Central Pacific railroad who also acquired the Southern Pacific Railroad and hammered in the famous golden spike in Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869. Stanford University is named for his son, Leland Stanford, Jr., who died of typhoid fever as a teenager.
stanford.edu/about/history/
Edward Steichen (1879-1973)
A passionate advocate for photography as an art form and a master of the Pictorialist photographic style. Steichen is one of the founders of the Photo Secession group with Alfred Steiglitz, and was a fashion photographer, curator, writer, and technical innovator. As the director of the photography department of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Steichen mounted The Family of Man exhibition. A print of one of his early works, The Pond-Moonlight (1904) sold for a record $2.9 million at auction in 2006.
staleywise.com/collection/steichen/steichen.html
Edward Steichen: In High Fashion - The Conde Nast Years, 1923-1937 by Todd Brandow and William Ewing, W.W. Norton & Co., 2008
Edward Steichen : The Early Years by Joel Smith, Princeton University Press, 1999
The Family Of Man by Carl Sandburg and Edward Steichen, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2002
Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946)
One of the first champions of photography as an art form. One of the founders of the Camera Club of New York and of the Photo Secession. He also created the journal Camera Work, " the first photographic journal to be visual in focus," which featured photogravure prints throughout. He was married to painter Georgia O'Keefe.
pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/stieglitz_a.html
metmuseum.org/toah/hd/stgl/hd_stgl.htm
Stieglitz: Camera Work (25th Anniversary Special Edition), Taschen, 2008
In Focus: Alfred Steiglitz : Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Publications, 1995
Paul Strand (1890-1976)
One of the key photographers, along with Edward Weston and Alfred Stieglitz, who advanced photography as an art form. He and Bernice Abbott founded the Photo League, which advocated using art to promote social and political causes. Strand's early experiments with formal abstraction influenced the painter Edward Hopper.
metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pstd/hd_pstd.htm
Paul Strand (Aperture Masters of Photography) by Mark Haworth-Booth and Paul Strand, Aperture, 2005
Paul Strand: Sixty Years of Photographs by Calvin Tomkins, Aperture, 2005
John Szarkowski (1925-2007)
The curator who almost single-handedly elevated photography’s status to that of a fine art. He was first to confer importance on the work of Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand, and advanced the careers of many others. Szarkowski wrote “One might compare the art of photography to the act of pointing. It must be true that some of us point to more interesting facts, events, circumstances, and configurations than others.”
lensculture.com/szarkowski.html
The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski, Lee Friedlander, Walker Evans, and William Klein, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2007
John Szarkowski: Photographs, Bulfinch, 2005
Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art by John Szarkowski and Museum of Modern Art, 2009
The Treachery of Images
Famous Magritte painting with the inscription “ceci n'est pas une pipe” (this is not a pipe).
lacma.org/art/ExhibMagritte.aspx
codart.nl/exhibitions/details/1260/
Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images by LACMA, 2006
Venus of Willendorf
Prehistoric carved fertility figure that was Penn's inspiration for his groundbreaking art nudes. It was found in 1908 by archaeologist Josef Szombathy in a terrace about 30 meters above the Danube river near the town of Willendorf, Austria. It is estimated to date between 24,000-22,000 BCE.
The Great Goddess: Reverence of the Divine Feminine from the Paleolithic to the Present by Jean Markale, Inner Traditions, 1999
Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series by John Berger, Penguin, 1990
This small book is a collection of six essays on the psychological and social implications of visual imagery. It is still as resonant and valid today as it was when it was first published in 1972.
Edward Weston (1886-1958)
Famous for carefully composed, superbly printed photographs, which included many nudes. He also shot landscapes and forms such as shells, artichoke, and rocks, using large-format cameras and available light. Through his perceptive eye, bell peppers on his front porch and a porcelain toilet took on sensual and erotic overtones that rivaled those of his beautiful female nudes. Weston was a co-founder of Group f/64. The group espoused sharp, "straight" photography, nearly the opposite of the approach of the Photo-Secession.