Ernst Haas, (1921-1986)
Route 66, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Route 66, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1964
Dye-transfer print, printed 2003, signed, titled, dated, numbered '3/50' by Alexander Haas, Estate Co-executor, in pencil and Estate copyright credit reproduction limitation stamps on the verso.
17 1/2 x 26 1/2in (44.5 x 67.3cm)
sheet 20 x 30in (50.8 x 76.2cm)
Literature
Haas, Ernst Haas: In America, Thames & Hudson, 1975
Bored with obvious reality, I find my fascination in transforming it into a subjective point of view. Without touching my subject, I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes "more made than taken." Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself - less descriptive, more creative, less informative, more suggestive - less prose, more poetry.
ERNST HAAS
Ernst Haas is one of the most respected photographers of the 20th century. While most commonly associated with his extraordinary, pioneering color work, he was also an accomplished black and white photographer.
Haas was born in Vienna in 1921 and bought his first camera in 1946. After several photography-related jobs, he joined LIFE magazine in 1949 where his first feature article "Returning Prisoners of War," was published. The power of the article prompted Robert Capa, co-founder of Magnum photo agency, to invite Haas to join this very select group (Haas later served as its president from 1959-1960.) At around the same time, he began to experiment with color photography and his 24-page "Magic Images of New York" in LIFE in 1951 was the first feature-length story in color ever published by a magazine.
Haas's exhibition Ernst Haas Color Photography, held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1962, was a major milestone in the history of the medium. The show not only introduced a large new audience to the artist's work, but it was also the first solo exhibition of color photography ever mounted in an important institution. Color had hitherto been regarded as too vulgar and commercial to hang on gallery walls and, when this radical show closed, it was 14 years before the Museum could bring itself to install another - this time featuring the photographs of William Eggleston, which opened in May 1976.
On this, the centennial of Ernst Haas's birth, Bonhams is delighted to acknowledge his vital contribution to photography with a dozen examples of his best-loved photographs, in both black and white and color. This group, although much too small, help to illustrate Haas's consummate brilliance in manipulating, light, shadow, form and pattern.
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Route 66, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Route 66, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1964
Dye-transfer print, printed 2003, signed, titled, dated, numbered '3/50' by Alexander Haas, Estate Co-executor, in pencil and Estate copyright credit reproduction limitation stamps on the verso.
17 1/2 x 26 1/2in (44.5 x 67.3cm)
sheet 20 x 30in (50.8 x 76.2cm)
Literature
Haas, Ernst Haas: In America, Thames & Hudson, 1975
Bored with obvious reality, I find my fascination in transforming it into a subjective point of view. Without touching my subject, I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes "more made than taken." Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself - less descriptive, more creative, less informative, more suggestive - less prose, more poetry.
ERNST HAAS
Ernst Haas is one of the most respected photographers of the 20th century. While most commonly associated with his extraordinary, pioneering color work, he was also an accomplished black and white photographer.
Haas was born in Vienna in 1921 and bought his first camera in 1946. After several photography-related jobs, he joined LIFE magazine in 1949 where his first feature article "Returning Prisoners of War," was published. The power of the article prompted Robert Capa, co-founder of Magnum photo agency, to invite Haas to join this very select group (Haas later served as its president from 1959-1960.) At around the same time, he began to experiment with color photography and his 24-page "Magic Images of New York" in LIFE in 1951 was the first feature-length story in color ever published by a magazine.
Haas's exhibition Ernst Haas Color Photography, held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1962, was a major milestone in the history of the medium. The show not only introduced a large new audience to the artist's work, but it was also the first solo exhibition of color photography ever mounted in an important institution. Color had hitherto been regarded as too vulgar and commercial to hang on gallery walls and, when this radical show closed, it was 14 years before the Museum could bring itself to install another - this time featuring the photographs of William Eggleston, which opened in May 1976.
On this, the centennial of Ernst Haas's birth, Bonhams is delighted to acknowledge his vital contribution to photography with a dozen examples of his best-loved photographs, in both black and white and color. This group, although much too small, help to illustrate Haas's consummate brilliance in manipulating, light, shadow, form and pattern.
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Time, Location
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