Camera Work, No. 31. An Illustrated Quarterly Magazine Devoted to Photography (WITH IMAGES BY FRANK EUGENE) [MISSING 2 PLATES] [FROM THE LIBRARY OF AGNES ERNST MEYER*]
New York: Alfred Stieglitz, 1910. First edition. Hardcover. Folio. 68pp. [14 pages of publisher's ads]. Original grey paper wrappers with white lettering on the covers, specially mounted on grey cloth boards for Stieglitz. Pages uncut. Dated July, 1910. Cover design by Eduard Steichen.
This is issue #31 of the seminal quarterly art photography publication, edited and published by pioneering photographer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946). It contains a total of 12 photographic plates by acclaimed photographer Frank Eugene (1865-1936). Also included are various essays and articles on photography from a number of notable and historically important contributors to the field, including photographers and art critics, many of whom were members of or associated with Alfred Stieglitz's Photo-Secession movement.
The 12 images by Frank Eugene are comprised of an initial 8 portraits of "H.R.H Rupricht, Prince of Bavaria", German painters "Fritz von Uhde", "Prof. Adolf Hengler" and "Prof. Franz von Stuck", his famous image of painter Willi Giger, "Prof. Adolf von Seitz", world chess champion "Dr. Emmanuel Lasker and His Brother", and German writer "Dr. Georg Hirth". The final 4 images are "Kimono - Frl. v. S", "Frau Ludwig von Hohlwein", "Nude - A Child" and "Direktor F. Goetz". Unfortunately the images "Hortensia" and "Nude - A Study" (which are listed) are missing, and appear to have never been bound in. All images are finely printed in b/w or sepia-toned photogravure on tissue paper. Some of these images are among photographer's more famous works.
Text content includes, "The New Thought Which is Old", by art critic Charles H. Caffin (1854 -1918), "The Four Dimension From A Plastic Point of View" and "Chinese Dolls and Modern Colorists" by American painter Max Weber (1881-1961), "The Brain and the World (Dedicated to Eduard Seichen)" by American journalist, critic, essayist Benjamin De Casseres (1873-1945), and "What is Beauty?" by photographer, writer and art critic Joseph T. Keiley (1869-1914), among other interesting essays. The final 14 un-numbered pages contain a full list of Photo-Secession members and beautifully printed period advertisements for photography-related businesses.
Spine sunned, with light rubbing and a few small closed tears to the head and tail of the spine. Light smudges to the back cover. Interior with the title page and the photographic plates for Rupricht, Prince of Bavaria and Emmanuel Lasker are detached but present. Starting at after the front endpapers and p.22. All images clean and vibrant. Binding in in very good, interior in very good- condition overall. vg- to vg. Item #49997
* Agnes Ernst Meyer (1887-1970) was an American journalist, philanthropist, civil rights activist, and art patron. She was a close collaborator and friend of photographer Alfred Stieglitz, with whom she publishing the arts and literary magazine "291" (from 1915-916). She first encountered the work of photo-secession group, when she chanced upon Stieglitz's Gallery 291, while work as a reporter for the New York Sun newspaper. She was one of the first female journalists to work at the paper. Due to this fact Stieglitz often referred to her as the "Sun Girl". Along with Katharine Rhoades and Marion Beckett she was known as the one of "The Three Graces" of the Alfred Stieglitz artistic circle. She is well known for her political activism throughout her life on behalf many causes, including public education and racial equality in America.
Price: $1,500.00