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PUBLISHER
Candela Books

BOOK FORMAT
Clth, 10 x 11.75 in. / 100 pgs / 51 tritone.

PUBLISHING STATUS
Pub Date 6/30/2011
Out of print

DISTRIBUTION
D.A.P. Exclusive
Catalog: FALL 2011 p. 96

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN 9780984573905 TRADE
List Price: $50.00 CAD $67.50 GBP £45.00

AVAILABILITY
Not available

TERRITORY
WORLD

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

Richmond, VA
Candela Books Gallery, 09/11-10/11

THE SPRING 2026 ARTBOOK | D.A.P. CATALOG

Preview our SPRING 2026 catalog, featuring more than 500 new books on art, photography, design, architecture, film, music and visual culture.

Gita Lenz: Photographs

Introduction by Gordon Stettinius.

Working primarily from the 1940s through the early 1960s, the American photographer Gita Lenz (1910-2011) made documents of New York street life that won her early recognition and inclusion in two group shows curated by Edward Steichen for The Museum of Modern Art, a three-person show at the Brooklyn Museum and numerous articles and features in photography magazines of the time. Equally given to inflecting her portraiture with hints of social realism one on hand, and surrealism on the other, and also influenced by her close friend Aaron Siskind, Lenz produced abstract compositions, city still lifes, surreal still lifes and intimate portraits. She receded from view in the 1960s as financial demands impeded her practice, but in 2002, a chance meeting with photographer Gordon Stettinius led to the retrieval of this small but charming body of work, and the publication of this superbly printed first monograph.

Featured image is by the recently rediscovered mid-century photographer Gita Lenz, whose work has been collected for the first time in the stunning new monograph, Gita Lenz: Photographs by Candela Books. In the introduction, Candela publisher Gordon Stettinius writes, "Like her friend Aaron Siskind, who started out as a social documentarian and member of the Photo League in New York, Gita spent much of her time making images of the people and the city around her. These images are tender, demonstrating a sense of empathy and respect for her subjects, and yet they feature dynamic compositions. Also, like Siskind, Gita explored abstraction, both in nature and in the urban environment, frequently making complex and beautiful images of mundane and dilapidated subjects; and she created these images concurrent with developments in the Abstract Expressionist movement. In other images, Gita’s work utilizes a diverse visual vocabulary that evokes elements of modernism in her compositions – subject matter that often pays tribute to social realism… [or] a surreal perspective."

STATUS: Out of print | 00/00/00

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FROM THE BOOK

"It is clear that Aaron Siskind was a close friend as well as an influence. During the forties and fifties, the two photographers had a sustained correspondence. Although there is no direct evidence that Gita received formal training from him, her personal connection to Siskind can be seen as an important one, as evidenced by the stylistic similarity of the two artists. Like Siskind, who started out as a social documentarian and member of the Photo League in New York, Gita spent much of her time making images of the people and the city around her. These images are tender, demonstrating a sense of empathy and respect for her subjects, and yet they feature dynamic compositions. Also, like Siskind, Gita explored abstraction, both in nature and in the urban environment, frequently making complex and beautiful images of mundane and dilapidated subjects; and she created these images concurrent with developments in the Abstract Expressionist movement. In other images, Gita's work utilizes a diverse visual vocabulary, evoking elements of modernism in her compositions, containing subject matter that often pays tribute to social realism, and even incorporating reflections in storefront windows suggesting a surreal perspective."

Gordon Stettinius, excerpted from the introduction to Gita Lenz.

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