Gefesselter Blick: The Typotects and Phototects 1919–1939 Published by Steidl. Edited with text by Manfred Heiting. Text by Patrick Rössler, Rainer Stamm. A colossal archive of exceptional printed matter from Europe's golden age of commercial art, 1919–1939 Between 1919 and 1939, typography, graphic design and photography coalesced into a far-reaching new form of visual communication: commercial art. This monumental survey presents the most outstanding examples of printed matter of the time—artist's books, magazines, corporate publications and more—in which concept and design were shaped by the Bauhaus, Futurism, Surrealism and New Objectivity. The period also oversaw the dawn of the photo-collages and photo-montages created by the typotects and phototects. Showcasing contributions by designers Walter Dexel, Max Burchartz, Piet Zwart and Jan Tschichold; photographers Paul Outerbridge, Karl Blossfeldt, Laure Albin-Guillot and Albert Renger-Patzsch; editors Harold Loeb, Ezra Pound, H.K. Frenzel and Katherine Dreier; as well as multi-talents El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Kurt Schwitters and John Heartfield—to name but a few—this expansive publication with more than 3,000 images only scratches the surface of this exceptional and productive era.
|