Trained as a retoucher, Rudolf Koppitz teaches photographic techniques in Vienna at the time of the Wiener Werkstätte. He prefers group exhibitions to solo exhibitions and his personal approach is poorly documented.
With his very young wife Anna, Rudolf practices naturist photography including self-portraits. They express the beauty of healthy athletic bodies in the mountains.
In 1924 the photo titled Bewegungsstudie (Study of movement) is his masterpiece. It stages four standing women. The eight bare feet are arched to dance. The woman in the foreground is fully naked, her body thrown back. The other three have very dark dresses that constitute a frame around the nude.
Who are they ? It is assumed that the nude acrobat was a ballerina of the Wiener Staatsoper. The same group appears mid-length in a similar outfit in another composition. The closer view shows an undeniable resemblance of the faces from one another. How many different women are featured in these pictures ?
The Professor tries his best laboratory formulas. A 56 x 42 cm print annotated 'Combin Gummidruck' (combination of gums) and numbered 1 probably marks the best of Koppitz's practice, with very rare hues revealing the details in the black clothes. This achievement is contemporary of the experiments to master the black by Steichen or Strand.
This print is estimated $ 200K for sale by Phillips in New York on April 9, lot 96.
SOLD for $ 400K including premium
With his very young wife Anna, Rudolf practices naturist photography including self-portraits. They express the beauty of healthy athletic bodies in the mountains.
In 1924 the photo titled Bewegungsstudie (Study of movement) is his masterpiece. It stages four standing women. The eight bare feet are arched to dance. The woman in the foreground is fully naked, her body thrown back. The other three have very dark dresses that constitute a frame around the nude.
Who are they ? It is assumed that the nude acrobat was a ballerina of the Wiener Staatsoper. The same group appears mid-length in a similar outfit in another composition. The closer view shows an undeniable resemblance of the faces from one another. How many different women are featured in these pictures ?
The Professor tries his best laboratory formulas. A 56 x 42 cm print annotated 'Combin Gummidruck' (combination of gums) and numbered 1 probably marks the best of Koppitz's practice, with very rare hues revealing the details in the black clothes. This achievement is contemporary of the experiments to master the black by Steichen or Strand.
This print is estimated $ 200K for sale by Phillips in New York on April 9, lot 96.
SOLD for $ 400K including premium
RSS Feed
