[PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTO HISTORY, FINE ART, UB IWERKS] 

CAFFIN, Charles H. (Author)

"PHOTOGRAPHY AS A FINE ART  - The Achievements and Possibilities of Photographic Art in America" 

New York. Doubleday & Page. 1901. Quarto. 191 pp. First Edition. Bound in original publishers green cloth with gilt cover & spine title. Top edge gilt. Minor corner bump. Hinges sound. Overall, very good or better. 

A landmark at its time of publication, Caffin's work is still one of the most informative and authoritative appraisals of the American photographers who later became the Photo Secession. Singling out Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Gertrude Kasebier and Clarence H. White, Caffin was an important critic at the great turning point in American photography known as the Photo-Secession. He wrote for Alfred Stieglitz's magazine Camera Work and taught Paul Strand.

Caffin's interest in pictorial photography led to the most important and productive friendship of his life with Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz enlisted Caffin as a writer for his journal Camera Work, for which he wrote appreciations of Stieglitz's photographs as well as those of Edward Steichen, Frank Eugene, Joseph Keiley, and Gertrude Kasebier, among others. Camera Work, which was founded in 1902, continued publication until 1917 and, in the words of Stieglitz's biographer, Caffin was "the only major critic sympathetic to [Stieglitz's] goals to last the full life of the magazine." The relationship with Stieglitz also led to more exposure to new art. Reviewing exhibitions at Stieglitz's gallery, "291," Caffin had the opportunity to assess challenging artists as different as Abraham Walkowitz, Alfred Maurer, John Marin, Arthur Dove, and Marsden Hartley. Some of the new art he saw (e.g., Cubism and Synchromism) was confusing and disorienting to him, but much of it was a revelation which he was pleased to discuss in his newspaper and magazine columns.

Provenance: 

This item is from the library of legendary Walt Disney animator, inventor, and special effects technician Ub Iwerks. Ub was Walt Disney's first business partner and chief animator. Iwerks collection features many early and important photography books dealing with all aspects of photography, imaging, special effects and photo history. Iwerk's son David also carried on his interest in photography and because of his interest in photography Ub's collection remained in the family from Ub's death in 1971 until recently. We can provide an COA confirming the Iwerks provenance to interested buyers upon request. Please view our other items and search the keyword 'Iwerks'. 

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