Frantisek Drtikol, Photography History

There was a Czech photographer named Frantisek Drtikol . He lived 1883-1961.

Here is a sample of his elegant exquisite work. I love the form and shadows.

I will also include the brief wikipedia entry.

I have recently added the History of Photography to my cultural obsession.

I learned of Drtikol from seeing two photos at the DAM's collection. I may have seen him in LA too.

He is one of the latest I have learned about in my studies. Along with Francesca Woodman, Julia Margaret Cameron, Barbara Kruger.

Gerry Winograd. Saw those same prints in LA well you can't do that with a painting.

So that is a question for Eric Paddock. haha

How does that affect the value. But it is also giving the piece prestige, I would imagine, because it is like the curators are saying "this is an important piece of photographic arts."
Same with the Diane Arbu twins photo, is at the DAM and LA.

From 1907 to 1910 he had his own studio, until 1935 he operated an important portrait photostudio in Prague on the fourth floor of one of Prague's remarkable buildings, a Baroque corner house at 9 Vodičkova, now demolished. Drtikol made many portraits of very important people and nudes which show development from pictorialism and symbolism to modern composite pictures of the nude body with geometric decorations and thrown shadows, where it is possible to find a number of parallels with the avant-garde works of the period. These are reminiscent of Cubism, and at the same time his nudes suggest the kind of movement that was characteristic of the futurism aesthetic.
He began using paper cut-outs in a period he called "photopurism". These photographs resembled silhouettes of the human form. Later he gave up photography and concentrated on painting. After the studio was sold Drtikol focused mainly on painting, Buddhist religious and philosophical systems. In the final stage of his photographic work Drtikol created compositions of little carved figures, with elongated shapes, symbolically expressing various themes from Buddhism. In the 1920s and 1930s, he received significant awards at international photo salons. Drtikol has published:
"Le nus de Drtikol" (1929)
Žena ve světle (Woman in the Light)


Some his photos look very Art Deco to me. Wikipedia doesn't mention that.