Pierre Dubreuil - Photographs New York Thursday, October 8, 2015 | Phillips

Photographs

New York Auction 8 October 2015

  • Provenance

    Pierre Dubreuil, to the Association Belge de Photographie, Brussels
    The collection of Tom Jacobson, San Diego

  • Catalogue Essay

    This unique set of 96 diapostives is the core of Pierre Dubreuil’s legacy. During World War II, Dubreuil’s original negatives were tragically destroyed by fire and, as a result, no prints by Dubreuil are known to exist for 32 of the images in this set. All but 5 of the works have hand written titles and signatures in Dubreuil's hand. The set being offered includes images produced from 1901-1930, however the majority are images produced from 1925 to 1930 – after the photographer lived in Paris and by the time he was fully a Modernist.

    Dubreuil produced these luminous silver based glass positives, for the most part, directly from his original 8x10 inch glass plate negatives. They differ from Dubreuil’s paper prints in that they are meant to be seen projected or by transmitted light (Greek "dia" = through), rather than by reflected light. Their Modernist clarity is in part due to the fact that these fine grained diapositives can record up to 400 separate tones as compared to about 250 for paper. Because Dubreuil’s strong compositions are also repeatedly close-up, they hold their own as miniatures.

    Dubreuil apparently made this set for a presentation to the Association Belge de Photographie upon his assuming its presidency in 1930. Based on a typed two page list found in Association's papers, the set being offered is complete, with the exception of three (numbers 19, 63 and 76) that were either lost or destroyed. No other diapositives by Dubreuil are known to exist, making this an extremely rare offering and a nearly complete overview of the photographer’s most recognized images. For more information on Pierre Dubreuil, please reference the essay prior to lot 171.

    A more comprehensive presentation of the anaglyphs, as well as all 72 stereographs are available to view and experience on our website, http://phillips.com/feature/complete-stereographs-and-diapositives-of-pierre-dubreuil

172

Pierre Dubreuil

A complete set of the artist's known diapositives

1901-1930
96 diapositives from the original glass plate negatives, printed circa 1930.
Each glass plate, 3 3/8 x 3 7/8 in. (8.5 x 10 cm)
Each made, all but 5 signed and titled by the artist, numbered in an unidentified hand in ink on labels affixed to the cover glass.

Estimate
$80,000 - 120,000 

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Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head, Photographs

Sarah Krueger
Head of Sale, New York

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Photographs

New York Auction 8 October 2015