STRAND PAUL (1890 1976) Lathe Akeley Shop New York

Sale 2226 - Lot 294

Unsold

Estimate: $ 9,000 - $ 12,000

STRAND, PAUL (1890-1976)
"Lathe, Akeley Shop, New York." Silver print, 4 3/4x3 3/4 inches (12.1x9.5 cm.); accompanied by a letter of authentication from Anthony Montoya (Aperture/Paul Strand Archive). 1923; printed no later than 1940

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Additional Details

Originally from the estate of Edward Schwartz (a photographer and member of the Photo League), to whom Strand gifted the photograph no later than 1940. Strand was considerably involved with the Photo League, serving as a mentor to several of its emerging photographers.

According to Montoya, "Although Strand used a 4x5 inch Graflex camera in 1929 and 1930, the Schwartz print does not conform to the actual image size of the negative made from the camera (it is slightly larger). Therefore the negative and resulting contact print had to have been made in 1931 or a few years later after Strand acquired and began using his 5x7 inch Graflex camera. Consequently, Strand had to have given the print to Edward Schwartz between 1936 and 1940."

Photographed during the rise of the Machine Age, and in the aftermath of the first mechanized conflict, World War I, Strand's image has a romantic quality. He'd purchased the Akeley movie camera after collaborating with Charles Sheeler on the 1921 film "Manhatta" (which documented the beauty of the modern high-rise environment). The device served as a catalyst for his sophisticated examination of the relationship between machinery and abstraction throughout the 1920s.