Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance

Paul Outerbridge Jr. (American, 1896-1958) burst onto the photographic art scene in the early 1920s with images that were visually fresh, technically adept, and decidedly Modernist. He also applied his talent for composition to the commercial world, introducing an artist's sensibility to advertisements for men's haberdashery, glassware, and JELL-O for magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. An early master of the technically complex carbro color process, he used it to photograph nudes, often shown with a variety of props--images that skirted the limits of propriety in their day.

This catalogue is produced for the first exhibition of Outerbridge's work since 1981, to be held March 31 through August 9, 2009, at the J. Paul Getty Museum. It brings together one hundred photographs from all periods and styles of the photographer's career, including his Cubistic still-life images, commercial magazine photography, and nudes. The book includes an essay by the curator and a chronology of the artist's life and work.

"The essay that accompanies this catalogue to an exhibition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles is largely biographical. But since Outerbridge (1896 — 1958) has not yet been the subject of a major critical biography, the information is both fascinating and helpful in placing this major photographic innovator's work in context. Outerbridge focused on narrowing the gap between fine art and commercial work. His fashion and product display work for Vanity Fair and Paris Vogue was successful with both his employers and other artists. In 1930 he began working with color processing and for magazines and advertisers to help sell their products during the Depression. He mastered the difficult tricolor carbon-transfer printing process. Outerbridge's final years in Southern California were often financially difficult, and he slipped into obscurity. It was years after his death that his carefully preserved archives reintroduced his work. The Getty owns the largest public collection of Outerbridge prints, and this elegantly produced catalogue shows him to be not only a master printer but also an artist who continues to influence contemporary photographers. 59 color and 61 b&w photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The volume was prepared to accompany a March-August 2009 exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles of work by American photographer Outerbridge (1896-1958). In the introduction, Paul Martineau, a curator in the Museum's photography department, describes him as a pioneer in applying modernist aesthetic principles to commercial photography and helping blur the distinction between art and commerce. The 104 photos reproduced here are in various private and public collections, and trace his career through its several stages of technique, approach, and subject matter. A chronology is included. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Paul Martineau is assistant curator in the Department of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum.