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Breitenbach was born in Munich, Germany in 1896. He
attended schools in Munich and later served in the military during 1916.
He eventually joined his father's wine merchant business in 1919. Two
school notebooks and early portraits are the extent of the documentation
of this early period of Breitenbach's life. It is known that he traveled
with the wine business, and early photographs and negatives of Italy and
France were probably made by Breitenbach during those trips.
When the wine
business went bankrupt in 1932, Breitenbach opened a portrait studio and
began photographing the City Theater in Munich. Many photographs and
negatives of German theater personalities including photographs of Karl
Valentin and Albert Basserman exist from this year. Again, little
documentation other than photographs and negatives exist from this time.
September
1933, Breitenbach left Munich with his son Hans and settled in Paris. He
established a portrait studio and began teaching photography.
Documentation of the Paris years, 1933-1941, is rich and varied.
Documentation exists as correspondence, exhibition announcements, writings,
notebooks, teaching materials, identity cards, rent statements, and
photographic materials. Exhibition announcements, correspondence, and tear
sheets show that his photographs were exhibited and reproduced in Paris as
well as other countries. As a correspondent for the British International
News Agency, Breitenbach wrote about and photographed the following
important exhibitions in Paris: [Freie] Deutsche Buch, 1936 (Free
German Books); The Paris International Exposition, 1937; 5 Ans de
Regime Hitler, (Five Years of the Hitler Regime), 1938; the
International Surrealism Exhibition, 1938; and [Freie] Deutsche Kunst
(Free German Art), 1938.
As a member of the
German expatriate community in Paris, Breitenbach photographed Helene
Weigel and Bertolt Brecht, and the rehearsals for a Brecht play in 1938.
He also photographed Max Ernst, Lyonel Feininger, and others. In addition,
Breitenbach photographed panels for a planned exhibition for the Freedom
Pavilion, New York World's Fair, 1939, The Germany of Yesterday, The
Germany of Tomorrow.
In 1938 Germany
revoked his citizenship. When Germany invaded France during W.W.II,
Breitenbach was interned as an enemy alien in various camps. The archive
documents with writings, correspondence, identity cards and other
materials his time in the work camps, and his efforts to leave France. He
successfully emigrated to the United States in 1941.
Josef Breitenbach
established himself as a photographer and teacher in New York City in
1941. He lived there until his death in 1984. He used the English version
of his name, Joseph, extensively after this period. He began to receive
commercial assignments from magazines such as Fortune, Harper's
Bazaar, and Time.
Breitenbach's long
career as a teacher began in 1944 with an appointment to Black Mountain
College in Asheville, North Carolina. Although Breitenbach was hired by
Josef Albers for only that summer, his photographs extensively document
the buildings, students, teaching methods of Josef Albers and others at
Black Mountain College and were used in subsequent brochures for the
college. In 1946 he began teaching at Cooper Union and in 1949 at the New
School for Social Research, both in New York City. Correspondence, lecture
notes, and audio tapes of his lectures richly document his career as a
teacher. During this period, Breitenbach collected photographs to
supplement his lectures in photography. In 1979 his photograph collection
was sold to the Münchner Stadtmuseum in Munich, Germany. No photographs
from his teaching collection exist in his archive.
From 1952-53, Josef
Breitenbach served as the Chief of Still Photography for the United
Nations Reconstruction Agency in Korea. Those years served as
Breitenbach's introduction to Korea and Japan. Each year until the 1970s
he worked on commercial projects in Asia to finance his travel and
personal photographic work. Although his photographs were exhibited and
reproduced in periodicals, Women of Asia (1968) was the only
monograph published from this large body of work. Josef Breitenbach died
in New York City in 1984.
Description
Papers and
photographic materials, 1873-1990, of Josef Breitenbach (1896-1984),
photographer. Includes correspondence, writings, appointment calendars,
exhibition announcements, tearsheets, clippings, publications,
photographic materials, audiovisual materials, and memorabilia. (74.5
linear feet)
Provenance
The collection was a
gift in 1989 from Yaye Togasaki Breitenbach, the artist's widow.
Languages
English, French,
German
Restrictions
Copyright to the
Josef Breitenbach's papers and photographs is held by the Josef
Breitenbach Trust. Permissions should be sought from the Trust.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
OF COLLECTION
The Josef
Breitenbach Archive contains the personal papers and photographic
materials of the photographer and teacher Josef Breitenbach (1896-1984).
The materials in the archive date from 1873-1990 with the bulk of the
collection dating from 1933-1983. The archive consists of correspondence
files, biographical materials, manuscripts, exhibition materials, teaching
files, publications, financial records, audiovisual materials, and
photographic materials.
Breitenbach, Josef. Photographien.
Editeur:
Klaus E. Gölz u.a.
Catalog,
Halle and Munich, 1996. Joseph Breitenbach, 1896 in Munich
bears, began in the 20er years to photograph and did itself
1931 as picture-journalist independent. 1933 he emigrated
first of all to Paris, where he made portraits of James Joyce,
Bert Brecht, Maillol, Kandinsky and Max Ernst confess became
and fled 1941 to New York. Here nude-photography’s and
portraits out of the artist-bohemia originated; it followed
numerous teacher training colleges and late extended
photo-rice through southeast-Asia.