Paul Strand 1890-1976

with black ink border, flush-mounted to paper, mounted again to card, signed, titled, dated, numbered '#15' (circled), and annotated by the photographer in blue ink, with printing notations in unidentified hands in pencil and a publisher's number stamp on the reverse, 1953, likely printed in the late 1950s

The photographer to Dr. Erhard Frommhold, Verlag der Kunst, Dresden

Acquired by the present owners from the above, 2006

Other prints of this image:

Paul Strand and Cesare Zavattini, Un Paese: Portrait of an Italian Village (Aperture, 1997), dust jacket and p. 81

Michael E. Hoffman, ed., Paul Strand: Sixty Years of Photographs (Aperture, 1976), p. 75

Maren Strange, ed., Paul Strand, Essays on His Life and Work (Aperture, 1990), p. 256

Sarah Greenough, Paul Strand: An American Vision (Aperture and The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., 1990, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 129

Frantisek Vrba, SNKLU Series: Paul Strand (Prague, 1961), pl. 59

Anne M. Lyden, In Focus: Paul Strand (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005), pl. 37 

Aperture Masters of Photography: Paul Strand (Aperture, 1987), dust jacket 

Keith F. Davis, An American Century of Photography: From Dry-Plate to Digital (Kansas City, 1999), pl. 362

This enlargement print, on Kodak Illustrator's Special paper with a semi-matte surface, is in generally excellent condition. The presentation, including the fact that this is an enlargement print, the paper used, and Strand's writing, indicates that this print was likely made in the late 1950s. As is typical of Strand's work of the period, the print's surface sheen is the result of a coating. Over the years, Strand developed a number of recipes for what he termed 'varnish' that he favored in order to enhance the details of the image. Around this time, it is likely that the recipe he used was a mixture of artist's Standoil and English distilled, rectified turpentine. There is some edge wear and minor emulsion loss at the lower edge. Additionally, there is what appears to be a publisher's 1/2-inch ink crop mark, just above the center of the lower edge, in the image. When examined in raking light, a 3/8-inch indentation that does not break the emulsion near the lower left corner, can be seen. In high raking light, in the area of the man in the doorway, there is an extremely faint impression of cursive writing, as if someone wrote on paper on top of the photograph. This is not apparent when viewing the photograph under normal circumstances and does not affect the photograph's fine appearance. The reverse of the secondary card flush mount has the following annotation by the photographer in blue ballpoint ink: 'In reproducing do not include the black safe edge but reproduce the whole image; do not crop any part of it. Please handle print carefully and return it to Paul Strand, Orgeval, s/o, France.' There are additional penciled notations in an unidentified hand, presumably a publications editor: '1 x 1,' RRD-crop only as shown,' 'not crop image,' and 'Ch 232.' The reverse is lightly soiled. There is a 3/4-inch strip remnant of translucent paper and 1 1/4-inch white paper tape remains at the upper edge, a 3/4- by-3-inch abrasion in the center, and small paper remnants near the lower edge.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

'The Family, Luzzara' is the signature image from Strand's photographic portrait of the village of Luzzara, in the Po region of Italy.  Disillusioned by McCarthyism and the political situation in the United States, Strand moved to Europe in the early 1950s, seeking new subjects for his work.  His examination of different countries abroad resulted in five books, devoted to France, Italy, the Outer Hebrides, Egypt, and Ghana.  For his Italian study, Strand settled on one village, Luzzara, suggested by the cinematographer Cesare Zavattini, who had been born there.   Accompanied by Zavattini's text, Strand's photographs were published in 1955 in the volume Un Paese (Turin: Giulio Einaudi). The present image was reproduced on that first printing's dust jacket, and has been used as the cover image on many subsequent editions.

Strand's cultural portrait of Luzzara is imbued with the aftermath of war. The matriarch of the present image, Anna Spagiari Lusetti, had been married at 18, and had given birth to 15 children.  She had seen her husband beaten for political reasons on more than one occasion, and after his premature death in 1933, she was left to raise the family on her own.  All but the youngest of her sons had fought in World War II, not only in Italy, but in France, Greece, Germany, Africa, and England; all endured deprivation and hardship.  When the present image was made, the family was eking out a living as sharecroppers on someone else's land.

The themes of human suffering and resilience, so much a part of Strand's many cultural studies, is exemplified by the words of Anna Lusetti that formed part of the text for the present image:

'Remo was watching when they beat his father in Via Catania in Campagnola.  A car stopped and there were five or six people, it was around five in the evening.  Nino says he has never understood why they fought the war.  Nino was a prisoner in Africa, where he ended up with his brother Valentino, who was also a prisoner.  The first time Afro was on a train was when he went into the service in '43; then he ran away home.  Guerrino's health was affected by the blows he received in Germany.  Nando was also there, and in order to survive he even ate a rabbit skin.  He lives eight kilometers away because there isn't room for everyone in the farmhouse.  And it's a house where the rain comes in.

'In 1945 they asked me if I wanted revenge, but I didn't.'

The photograph offered here and in the following lot, as well as those in Lots 195 through 201 and Lot 228, come originally from the collection of Dr. Erich Frommhold, of the Verlag der Kunst firm of Dresden.  Founded in 1952, the Verlag der Kunst made its reputation as a publisher of art books of superb quality.  Two volumes of Strand's cultural studies carried the Verlag der Kunst imprint: the German editions of Tir a'Mhurain, with text by Basil Davidson (1962), and Living Egypt, with text by James Aldridge (1969).  Verlag der Kunst also published books of photographs by Helmar Lerski and John Heartfield.