Tim Gidal In the Thirties Presentation Copy Association Nude Olympia I Signed Photograph Horizon Press Estate
Jerusalem: The Jerusalem Post Press, 1975.
PHOTOJOURNALISM / AVANT-GARDE PHOTOGRAPHY
An exceptional, highly intimate association copy documenting the career of Weimar photojournalism pioneer Tim Gidal, inscribed to his close friend Ben Raeburn, and accompanied by a signed vintage exhibition print of Gidal's rare 1930s modern progressive nude.
This exhibition catalog traces Gidal’s foundational work during the 1930s when he, alongside Alfred Eisenstaedt and Erich Salomon, invented the modern candid photo essay. This unique estate survival directly unites Gidal's personal Jerusalem history with the publishing lineage of Horizon Press.
KEY FEATURES
+++ Visuals: Extensively illustrated throughout with Gidal’s stark, high-contrast black-and-white documentary photographs spanning early European politics, theatrical performances, and street scenes.
+++ Binding: Original glued black paper wraps with a stark, white typographic silhouette profile on the upper cover.
+++ Content: Features 28 complete pages of definitive 1930s photojournalistic plates published under the auspices of the Jerusalem Post Press.
+++ Association Inscription: Inscribed by the photographer on the title page in blue ink: to Ben / cordially / Tim / Jerusalem, May 1975 / NILI STR. 16. The notation NILI STR. 16 explicitly references Gidal’s personal residence on Nili Street in Jerusalem.
+++ Original Print Accompaniment: Included is an original, large-format silver gelatin photograph measuring 11.25 by 8.5 inches titled Olympia I (1932), which captures a classic progressive reclining female nude against a patterned floral wallpaper background.
+++ Provenance: Sourced directly from the estate of Ben Raeburn, founder of Horizon Press.
CONDITION
+++ Overall Grade: Very Good (Book) / Good to Very Good (Original Print).
+++ The Book: The internal pages are clean, bright, crisp, and entirely unflawed. The fragile paper wraps show standard, minor shelf handling with wear concentrated along the spine ends.
+++ The Photograph: The print displays a striking, bold mid-century ink tone. There is distinct emulsion/silvering loss and chipping localized along the far left edge margin and a minor instance of edge loss on the right margin, not encroaching upon the main figure.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Tim Gidal (born Ignatz Nachum Gidalewitsch) stands as one of the definitive structural architects of modern photojournalism. Operating in Weimar Germany during the late 1920s and early 1930s, Gidal pioneered the use of small, lightweight cameras like the Leica and Ermanox to capture unposed, split-second human events, establishing the grammar of the modern photo essay for massive pictorial magazines like the Münchner Illustrierte Presse.
This presentation copy maps the deep personal networks Gidal maintained following his emigration to Mandatory Palestine and his subsequent international career. His inscription to Ben Raeburn—the visionary director of Horizon Press who introduced Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural monographs and major avant-garde literature to postwar America—unveils a profound cross-continental relationship between documentary image makers and independent printers.
The inclusion of the print Olympia I highlights an elusive, highly artistic facet of Gidal's work. Executed in 1932 just before the collapse of the German independent press, the nude departs sharply from his strict street reportage, focusing instead on geometric forms, shadow, and interior textures.
SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ Design: Exemplifies post-war Israeli exhibition design, balancing industrial typographic layout with full-bleed historical photo plates.
+++ Scholarship: Serves as a vital primary record of early European photojournalism and avant-garde composition before the dissolution of the Weimar press networks.
+++ Influence: Preserves a direct physical dialogue between one of the founders of modern documentary photography and a primary champion of American avant-garde literature and graphic arts.
SUBJECTS: Photojournalism, Weimar Germany, Avant-Garde Art, Israeli Printing History, Ben Raeburn, Horizon Press Estate, Nude Photography, History of Photography.
GENRES: Exhibition Catalogue, Association Copy, Original Photography.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Standard institutional holdings track the 1975 catalog, but copies bearing dual inscriptions and accompanying exhibition prints are unrecorded.
Item #22113
Price: $750.00
See all items by Tim Gidal, Pioneer Photojournalist
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