Josef Breitenbach collection
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains images of people and places in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. The photographs were taken by German-born documentary photographer Josef Breitenbach. People shown include entertainers, composers, writers, politicians, artists, educators and some nude figure studies. Famous people depicted include Josef Albers, Emile Bernard, Bertolt Brecht, Max Ernst, Lyonel Feininger, Leonhard Frank, Wassily Kandinsky, John Steinbeck, and Sarah Vaughan. Documentary photographs of Asia show city and village life, landscapes, workers, women, children and temples in Bali, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, and Nepal. Most photographs have handwritten captions.
Dates
- Creation: 1929-1968
- Creation: Majority of material found within ( 1945-1968)
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to research.
Requesting Materials
For information about service in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, including obtaining copies, see "Information for Researchers."
Rights Restrictions
Rights status of individual images not evaluated. For general information see: "Copyright and Other Restrictions..."
Biographical Note
Josef Breitenbach, a noted documentary photographer, was born in Munich, Germany. He opened his first portrait studio in 1932. In 1933 he moved to Paris where he worked as a correspondent for the British International News Agency. In 1941 he migrated to the United States and later began teaching at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. He died in 1984 in New York City.
Extent
241 photographic prints : gelatin silver, b&w ; 14 x 11 in. or smaller.
12 photographic prints : color ; 8 x 10 in.
Abstract
Photographs show entertainers, composers, writers, politicians, artists, educators and some nude figure studies. Famous people depicted include Josef Albers, Emile Bernard, Bertolt Brecht, Max Ernst, Lyonel Feininger, Leonhard Frank, Wassily Kandinsky, John Steinbeck, and Sarah Vaughan. Documentary photographs of Asia show city and village life, landscapes, workers, women, children and temples in Bali, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, and Nepal. Some sites in the United States, Canada, and Europe are also featured.
Arrangement
Images are arranged thematically as follows:
- Portraits (nos. 1-40)
- Figure studies (nos. 41-69)
- Landscapes and other views in the U.S. and Europe (nos. 70-101)
- Women and children of Asia (nos. 102-165)
- Asian landscapes, structures, and people (nos. 166-242)
Catalog Record
Provenance
Provenance
- Gift; Josef Breitenbach; 1950.
- Gift; Josef Breitenbach; 1966; (DLC/PP-1966:117).
- Gift; Josef Breitenbach; 1969; (DLC/PP-1969:227).
Online Content
To see already digitized images from this collection, search our Online Catalog by call number or descriptive words.
Bibliography
- Women of Asia / Introd. by Spurgeon M. Keeny. New York : John Day Co. [1968].
Processing History
Josef Breitenbach collection was processed by staff in the Prints and Photographs Division in 2005. This finding aid contains unverified data from old container lists. Finding aid was encoded by Owen Ellis in 2021.
- Title
- Josef Breitenbach collection
- Subtitle
- Portraits, figure studies, documentary views of Asia, Europe, and the United States
- Author
- Prepared by the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress
- Date
- 2021
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Part of the Prints & Photographs Division Repository
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