Lake Como Villa Balbianello Italy Original Photogravure 1930s Kurt Hielscher

Description: Lake Como Villa Balbianello Italy Original Photogravure 1930s Kurt HielscherPrint from a book by Kurt Hielscher. Size of sheet: 9 1/2” X 6 3/4”.See below description of the photogravure process.Kurt Hielscher was a German photographer who traveled extensively in Europe in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s and took beautiful landscapes and architecture photographs. Hielscher used aZeiss Ikon Ideal 9×12 large format folding camera with Zeiss Tessar lens. He usually shot on Agfa-Chromo-Isorapid and Agfa-Isochrom film plates. His first major trip abroad took him to Spain in the summer of 1914 . When the First World War broke out during his stay there, he could no longer leave the country. He worked in Spain as a tutor and used the time to wander through the country and document it with his camera. The exhibitions and lectures on his photographs brought him attention and fame there.Hielscher's fame grew quickly and public contracts for similar photo documentation in other countries followed. He published illustrated books about Italy, the Balkans, Austria, Germany, Romania, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark, Finland. He soon said goodbye to the teaching profession and from then on devoted himself entirely to photography. All of his works were published using the copper gravure printing process and became significant examples of a new form of book he had created: the travel illustrated book. Looking ahead, he once wrote: "I try to show the primal face of a country and its people in my books. As a witness to a sinking world, my pictures will still speak when I have long fallen silent myself . During his exhibition period he tried to negotiate with several art print publishers to bring out his photographs in copper gravure printing. They all shied away from this high cost type of printing, however, and suggested the more inexpensive methods of the time. Finally, in 1922 he found a publisher with the courage to carry out his wishes regarding print quality. The book went around the world in five languages and was an unexpected success. The framing and composition of the photos were highly professional and the photos from Italy nicely documented the locations showing us views that are nowadays more than 100 years old.Kurt Hielscher was an interbellum period photographer who has managed to capture some of the most interesting objects in Europe before WWII. In the turmoil of World War II, his negatives and printing plates, as well as a large number of printed books, were lost. Kurt Hielscher died on July 10, 1948, in Lichtenstein/Saxony at the age of 67; at the time it was a Russian occupied part of Germany. Despite his extraordinary photography and approx. 500,000 printed travel books, Kurt Hielscher has been more or less forgotten.Photogravure was developed in the late nineteenth century as an image making method more permanent. There was a growing need to reproduce photographic images in books and other publications. The photogravure, which was printed with ink on rag paper, provided a continuous range of tones, greatly improving on letterpress, the existing method of reproducing photographs for publication. Although used primarily as a reproduction method, the process attracted the attention of many photographers who manipulated their plates to give special artistic effects to their prints. Originally revered by traditional photographers for its deep shadow areas, velvety middle tones and delicate highlights, a handful of artists are now adapting the process to a number of creative translations of the original negative, such as multi-plate color printing. In addition to the practically infinite variety of darkroom techniques that are available, the process allows for significant innovative handwork in both plate-making and printing. Skilled photographer/printmakers can thus celebrate the century-old ideal of combining art and craft while producing stunning contemporary work. Condition: Clean sheet. Print on reverse, See photos. Payment Terms: I accept credit card.Shipping Terms: High bidder pays winning bid plus USPS MAIL.Insurance extra email for quote after auction ends.Refunds, Returns: If you are not satisfied upon receipt, you may return it to me for a full refund of the bid and shipping. IT 1

Price: 20 USD

Location: Sacramento, California

End Time: 2024-11-29T17:16:58.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5 USD