Paul Strand 1890-1976

flush-mounted, signed and numbered '#12' by the photographer in pencil on the reverse, accompanied by a secondary card mount, signed, titled, dated, numbered '#12,' and annotated by the photographer in ink on the reverse, 1950

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 Claude Roy, La France de Profil (Aperture, 2001), pp. 90-91 

Michael E. Hoffman, ed., Paul Strand: Sixty Years of Photography (Aperture, 1976), pp. 120-121

Sarah Greenough, Paul Strand: An American Vision (Aperture and The National Gallery of Art, 1990, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 162

Frantisek Vrba, SNKLU Series: Paul Strand (Prague, 1961), pl. 37

This striking early print, on B7 paper, is in generally very good to excellent condition. 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. The print is flush-mounted and then hinged to a buff-colored board. Strand has annotated the board thusly in blue ballpoint pen: 'Reproduce the whole image. Do not crop at all. Please handle print with care and return it to Paul Strand, Orgeval s/o France.' Additionally , there are penciled notations in French in an unidentified hand 'garde le paysage' and '10 forrue.' There is very slight wear at the edges, with minute emulsion loss at the upper edge that is visible only upon the closest examination. When examined in raking light, small deposits of original retouching are visible, as well as an indentation and several thin, faint, small surface scratches that do not appear to break the emulsion. On the reverse of the original flush mount around the periphery, there is a 1/2-inch strip of adhesive and paper remains, where it has come away from the secondary flush mount. There is slight age-darkening on the secondary mount, as well as 5 white paper tape remains at the top and bottom edges, and a 7/8-inch strip across the upper edge. This print was probably made circa 1952, when the maquette for 'France de Profil' was created. The print in the Paul Strand Archive, believed to be vintage, resembles this print.
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.

'Café de la Paix' was first published in Paul Strand and Claude Roy's evocative volume of life in France, La France de Profil (Lausanne: La Guilde de Livre, 1952).  The first of Strand's studies of foreign cultures after leaving America in the early 1950s, La France de Profil comprises a montage of both pictures and words.  Strand had initially hoped to photograph a quintessential French village, one that could capture the essence of the entire nation.  Instead, he traveled and took pictures throughout the country, eventually synthesizing a number of locales for his study.  

Rather than photograph the cliché or the famous, Strand concentrated on the quotidian details and rituals of the ordinary man in France: cafés, shop windows, harnesses on a wall, a horse and cart, the nets of a fisherman's boat.  Like the book's photographic component, the poet Claude Roy's text is drawn democratically from a variety of sources: traditional songs, medieval writings, a farmer's almanac, recipes, passages from other authors, and descriptions composed by Roy specifically for the book.     

The text for the image offered here was written by Roy, inspired by an announcement of a war veterans' meeting in a local village.  It reads in part:

'This morning I saw two lines in the newspaper that made me pause: "The association of war veterans will meet at 8:30 p.m. in the Café de la Paix.  Agenda . . ."

'There can be no agenda when the Café de la Paix (the Peace Café) is the meeting place for people who have made war.  They have made war---they have made wars.  And they did well by it.  The war made them (and unmade them).'  

After a litany against the insidious evil of all wars, Roy concludes, 'When will the Café de la Paix be willing to say what it means:  And when, when will there be peace?'

The text and photograph of the Café de la Paix are then followed by photographs of a church destroyed by war, a graveyard, and war monuments, accompanied by missing-persons ads and French war ballads from several centuries.  As Roy writes, 'France, a country in which monuments to the dead are used over and over again, from one massacre to the next . . . When shall we stop learning how to read "Died honorably on the battle field" on the plaque with names?'

The photograph offered here comes originally from the collection of Dr. Erich Frommhold of the Verlag der Kunst, Dresden.  For more information, please see Lot 20. 

It is believed that there are only four extant prints of this image: aside from the present print, there is a print in an institutional collection, and two prints in private hands.