Lot 67A email save

GRINBERG, Aleksandr (1885-1979). Two female nudes.

Sign In to see what this sold for

ca. 1950s, negative ca. 1920s. Gelatin silver prints (each 115 x 175 mm). Grinberg was one of the most influential and controversial Russian photographers of the twentieth century. He took his first photograph when he was ten and by his early twenties he was exhibiting in photography shows and winning awards. He became one of the first internationally recognized Russian photographers and worked in the early Russian film industry as a cinematographer. However, beginning in 1929, his photographs were attacked as being "old school" and "depraved" and he was accused of ''deviation from Soviet ideology." His work shows a more intimate, lyrical, painterly style than many of his Soviet contemporaries such as his rival the Constructivist Aleksandr Rodchenko. Though the two men lived in the same building in Moscow they never spoke, communicating only through a mutual friend. Grinberg sought "pure photography" in opposition to the state-approved photojournalism. An exhibition of his nudes in 1935 were said to be catering "to the taste of pre-Revolutionary provincial hairdressers." He was arrested and sent to prison for five years for "disseminating pornography." He was released from the labor camp in 1939 on good behavior. Socialist Realism was the only acceptable style and Grinberg continued to work as a photographer in various capacities in the fashion and film industries. His early more important work was largely forgotten by the time of his death. A friend recalled stopping by his apartment after he died to find a neighbor using one of his prints as a dustpan. Only recently has Grinberg reemerged as an internationally respected Russian photographer. (2)

View Bloomsbury Auctions next auction.

Similar lots up for auction