The Soviet Photograph, 1924-1937 [Hardcover]

Margarita Tupitsyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1996

Providing a history of avant-garde Soviet photography and photomontage, this text analyzes the function of the photographic image in the Soviet Union between 1924 and 1937. Among the photographers whose work is discussed are Aleksander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Gustav Klutsis.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

An art historian and Rodchenko's grandson, Lavrentiev (Vavara Stepanova: The Complete Works, MIT, 1991) has compiled a lavish and valuable survey of the Soviet artist's contributions to the field of photography. The more than 400 works reproduced here are largely drawn from his years of greatest creativity and engagement with the avant-garde, 1924-1935. But Lavrentiev has wisely included a selection of Rodchenko's graphic works and photomontages to give context and, surprisingly, a few lyric, even sentimental, color photographs from the 1950s. The short, largely biographical text-printed in English, German, and French-will be of interest for its succinct discussion of Rodchenko's justification of photography as art. Researchers will be most appreciative, however, of the "list of photographs," which includes not only title and year but also details of the camera and lens used and citations to where the work has been published and exhibited, whenever available. Because of the size of his oeuvre, a comprehensive catalog of Rodchenko's works will probably never be produced; this beautiful, yet affordable, volume is a large step toward filling that void. For all libraries collecting works on 20th-century artists. A contributor to Montage & Modern Life, 1919-1942 (MIT, 1992), Tupitsyn here has reworked her dissertation into a suprisingly engaging account of the evolution of Soviet photography from radical artistic experimentation to predictable propaganda tool. Though the writing is at times dry and quote laden, the stories of collaboration among Gustav Klutsis, Elizar Langman, Rodchenko, and others and their eventual dissolution in pursuit of varying ideologies are both well told and well documented. And the publisher is to be commended for not skimping on either the quality of the book's design or the number of illustrations, which are consistently relevant to and well integrated with the text. This will be a valuable addition to any academic library collecting works on the early 20th-century avant gardes.
Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300064500
• ISBN-13: 978-0300064506
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,389,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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