SUDEK, Josef (1896-1976)

Josef Sudek [signed, with an Original Photograph of Josef Sudek by Miroslava Khola]

Breclav: Moravia Press, 1996. Large quarto. 12 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches. #299 of 300 copies, text in Czech; vi, 96pp. 83 mounted black and white photographs (from 2 x 1 1/2" to 9 x 6 1/2") reproduced in photolithography to their original sizes, captioned by the original Sudek notes below each photograph in facsimile pencil as in Sudek's original "Scrapbook." Numbered and signed on colophon by Jaroslav Bocek, Pavel Jedlicka, and Miroslava Khola; with an original photograph of Josef Sudek (9 1/4 x 7") by Miroslava Khola on page 1.

Black soft cover, black lettering on cream labels on cover and spine, housed in tan publisher's cloth slipcase. Fine copy.

Facsimile of master photographer Josef Sudek's "Scrapbook," complete with photographs reprinted in their original sizes, as well as captions and page numbers rewritten in facsimile pencil to match Sudek's own writing.

Sudek was born in Kolín, Bohemia. He worked as a bookbinder before being drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1915 and served on the Italian Front during the First World War. In 1916, his right arm was wounded which led to the limb being amputated at the shoulder. After returning from war, he studied photography for two years in Prague under Jaromír Funke. With his army disability pension, he was able to devote his time to making art and exploring different photographic styles. Sudek pushed boundaries in his work and argued for photography to move forward from the 'painterly' style predominant at the time; this led to a local camera club expelling him. Sudek is often described as a modernist photographer, but this is only accurate for a few years in the 1930s during which he undertook commercial photography, including contributions to the illustrated Prague weekly Pestrý týden and thus worked in the style of the times. His personal photography, however, is better characterised as neo-romantic. His early work included many series of light falling in the interior of St. Vitus Cathedral. During and after World War II, Sudek created haunting night-scapes and panoramas of Prague, photographed the wooded landscape of Bohemia, and the window-glass that led to his garden. He went on to photograph the crowded interior of his studio. In recent years, his work has frequently been reproduced in books, making his work some of the most readily accessible to those interested in twentieth-century Czech photography. In 1984 Sudek was posthumously inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Three-hundred copies of the present work were published in honor of Sudek on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth and the twentieth anniversary of his death, under the auspices of the Association of Czech Bibliophiles. The Josef Sudek photographs included are from the collection of Miroslav Khola. Graphic design by Pavel Jedlicka. The eighty-three photographs reproduced in photolithography are accompanied by the original Sudek notes printed below each photograph in facsimile as in Sudek's original "Scrapbook." The contact prints are reproduced in the actual size of the original negative and printed on heavy faux photo stock.

Item #39960

Price: $650.00