Lot Essay
This print may be unique. No other prints were in the estate at the time of Lois Cunningham Outerbridge's gift to the museum in 1968.
Property of LAGUNA ART MUSEUM,
formerly in THE ESTATE OF PAUL OUTERBRIDGE, JR.,
Sold to Benefit the Museum's Acquisitions Fund
If the art of making photographs rested solely on placing a frame around the world then there would be no talent in the art of photography. Exactly what one chooses to frame and its arrangement within the frame; how the scene is lighted and what occurs there; the final presentation of the photograph itself and the craftsmanship involved are all evidence of the practitioner's art. In an era that is almost defined by the excitement of seeing, Paul Outerbridge, Jr. was unsurpassed as a designer with a camera. A remarkable talent, Outerbridge's vision burst forth from a most unpresumptuous background. He very quickly established himself as one of the craftiest of the crafty foxes of photography - a composer of images whose silk purses made the viewer forget that many times it was the sow's ear being photographed.
Outerbridge created images the way a stone cutter splices a diamond: with precision that leaves us - the fortunate audience - marvelling at the natural ease of it all. His placement of objects within the frame, his exact lighting and his sumptuous printing leaves the viewer with the sense that nothing could be altered without damaging the clear Gestalt of each image. Executing each image with exactitude, Outerbridge foiled the concept of a prolific artist. No other artist of his generation made such an impact on photography and advertising with so few pictures. Other masters of the medium such as Stieglitz (25 years his senior) reveled in camera vision and abudantly made photographs (some 1600 images comprise the "Key Set" collection in the National Gallery of Art). Man Ray, who whimsically played jester to the high art of photography (insisting it to be an adjunct to his painting) made so many Surrealist inspired snapshots that a catalogue raisonné of his photographs is undreamable. Even Outerbridge's mentor, Clarence White, made innumerable incidental pictures as Artist, Experimenter and Educator. In contrast, Outerbridge left behind perhaps 500 separate images, many as unique prints, with a core of about 100 that defined a career spanning the 1920s and 30s, the two decades of greatest visual achievement of this century. An unlikely comparison of careers that produced such few pictures could be made between Outerbridge and another very fine printer, Frederick Sommer. Sommer, however, began to make photographs just as Outerbridge's career waned, having reached its apogee several years prior.
More than a bit of a dandy, Outerbridge hardly had an upbringing to suggest that he might possess a design acumen so refined. For the casual observer, his family life, early adulthood and first marriage leave much to the imagination. The scope of Outerbridge's experience, particularly his dramatic shifts of focus and fortune, have been clearly detailed in several well researched monographs, including Laguna Art Museum's exhibition catalogue, A Singular Aesthetic with Elaine Dines as guest curator in conjunction with Graham Howe. We encourage our audience to search out those publications listed in the accompanying Bibliography at the rear of this catalogue.
Laguna Art Museum's collection of Paul Outerbridge, Jr.'s photographs was a gift of the artist's widow, Lois Cunningham Outerbridge, in 1968. The collection had been featured in the exhibition Paul Outerbridge: A Singular Aesthetic, Photographs and Drawings 1921 - 1941 which travelled internationally from 1981 through 1983. It is to the Museum's credit that the exhibition was kept active and continued to tour through 1990. No other vehicle has as broadly informed the public of this once forgotten figure.
It is well known that Paul Outerbridge produced very few prints from his negatives. His meticulous printing habits left little room for large editions. At the most, less than a dozen prints exist for any one image but with the majority usually less than a handful are known. In the case of the Carbro prints in particular, no more than one or two prints were made of most images due to the tremendous cost involved in the complex process.
Due to the rarity of each of the following lots by Paul Outerbridge, we have stated an approximate number of extant prints taking into account the lot offered. We have included works known to us held in museum and private collections.
Christie's gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Mr. G. Ray Hawkins of the G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica for his assistance in preparing this information. Mr. Hawkins has owned the Paul Outerbridge, Jr. Archives for over 20 years.
PAUL OUTERBRIDGE, JR. (1896-1958)
Details
PAUL OUTERBRIDGE, JR. (1896-1958)
Apples in Container
Platinum print. 1922. Signed and dated in pencil on the mount; typed label with notation "Apples in Box" One of the earliest experiments in creating design with very simple elements and Laguna Beach Art Association label affixed to the reverse of the mount. 3¼ x 4 3/8in.
Apples in Container
Platinum print. 1922. Signed and dated in pencil on the mount; typed label with notation "Apples in Box" One of the earliest experiments in creating design with very simple elements and Laguna Beach Art Association label affixed to the reverse of the mount. 3¼ x 4 3/8in.
Provenance
The Estate of Paul Outerbridge, Jr.
Literature
Dines, A Singular Aesthetic, p. 161, fig. 113.