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A nearly complete 1925 series of 22 original-period photogravures after the nude studies of Franz Fiedler (1885–1956), an important German art photographer of the early 20th century.

Künstlerische Aktaufnahmen
Franz Fiedler, Dresden
Berlin: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, c.1925
Introduction by Karl Weiß
22 of 24 photogravure plates present

Originally issued as a series of 24 nude photographs reproduced in photogravure and individually mounted on substantial sheets. This example contains 22 of the 24 plates, together with the title sheet and the original two-page introductory text by Karl Weiß. No portfolio/folder or rear cover is present.

FRANZ FIEDLER

Franz Fiedler was a significant German photographer whose career encompassed portraiture, figure studies and art photography. He studied and worked with the celebrated photographer Hugo Erfurth before establishing himself independently in Prague and Dresden. Fiedler received international recognition early in his career, including an award at the 1911 International Exhibition in Turin, and became known for his distinctive treatment of the human figure, light and form. Much of his photographic archive was subsequently lost during the destruction of Dresden in World War II.

THE ARTISTIC PURPOSE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The original introduction by Karl Weiß provides unusually valuable contemporary commentary on Fiedler's intentions. Weiß argues that successful artistic nude photography depends not simply upon the beauty of the model, but upon movement, line, form, and the distribution of light and shadow in space and across the figure.

He specifically describes the photographs presented here as being driven by a “strong artistic impulse.” He notes their echoes of art and cultural history, their avoidance of artificial posing, and the underlying rhythm of nature in their composition.

For Weiß, the successful artistic nude transcends the mere representation of the unclothed figure: the viewer becomes absorbed instead by the idea and composition of the image as a whole. His essay thus provides a contemporary statement of the aesthetic purpose behind Fiedler's photographs and makes clear that this series was conceived as serious art photography rather than simply a collection of nude images.

THE 22 PLATES

The photogravure process gives Fiedler's photographs a rich tonal quality particularly suited to his treatment of light, shadow and the human figure.

Twenty-two of the original 24 loose mounted plates are present. Each is a substantial individual image in its own right, while together they preserve nearly the complete published sequence.

Their separate mounted format also gives the group considerable versatility for a collector, gallery, dealer or decorator—whether kept together as a nearly complete Fiedler series or with selected images individually displayed.

CONDITION

Incomplete: 22 of the original 24 photogravure plates are present; two plates are lacking. The mounted photogravures are generally well preserved, with expected age toning and occasional minor age/handling evidence.

The introductory sheets show age wear. The title sheet is heavily worn and defective, with substantial paper loss, tears and soiling, as pictured. No portfolio/folder or rear cover is present.

The condition of the title material should not be confused with that of the 22 mounted photogravures themselves; please examine the photographs carefully for the condition of all components.

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