The Body Beautiful: Five Volumes New York 1930s

The contribution made by Americans to the bibliography on the body, its form and figure in photography, is almost non-existent until the 1930s when a number of small "art photography" publishers begin to explore the genre. Without precedent in the US, the Dodge Publishing Company in New York City, set an extremely high standard in 1935 with the first of its five volume series, THE BODY BEAUTIFUL. Above, the cover of volume one.

In retrospect, only a few American books on the subject of the nude would ever come close to the quality of this five volume set published from 1935 to 1939. These spiral bound collections of nudes were beautifully printed in fine gravure, rivaling the quality of production, typography and page design as well as compositional and experimentation as some of the noteworthy European publications of this period.  Daniel Masclet’s NUS La Beaute de la Femme and the PHOTOGRAPHIE Annuals published by Arts et Metiers Graphique in Paris may have inspired the editor of the series, Heywood Campbell, and his designers.

 Solarized nude, homage to Man Ray?

Each volume with approx. 80 photographs. Contributions, many in an experimental or avant-garde style, include William Rittase, Lejaren a Hiller, Frank Frapie, Ruth Bernhard, Alexander Allard, Remie Lohse, Forman Hanna, Pierre Boucher, Alexander Paal, Heinz Perckhammer, John Everard, Aaron Siskind, Lusha Nelson, Arnold Genthe, Bertram Park, Hajek-Halke and many others.

The overall size 8.75" x 11.75"; each volume spiral bound, published in a box with die-cut top revealing a portion of the cover photograph. These exceptional books are rarely seen, especially as a complete set and in such fine condition as those shown in this post.

Exceptional use of the two-page spread incorporating the spiral binding; photograph shifted to the left edge to create a white band on the right side as a design element. Note placement of the copy and the page number.

Double exposure/composite image by Lejaren a Hiller.

 Marvelous full-color photograph gracing the cover of volume three.

Literally tipping the photograph on edge, creating a dynamic of blacks on white  in contrast to the smaller image "forced" into the upper right corner with bleeds on two sides. Note the effectiveness of the spiral binding as part of the layout.

One of the few male nudes in the series.

Cover volume four. Wonderful camera/eye design: signed Hawkins.

 Simple, expansive image used as the title page for volume four with the typography centered over the nude figure. Letter and word spacing fits 
nicely with the volume of the photograph.

 Implying the motion of a dive. The black and white spaces and the sharp angles of the photo on the right create a brilliant spread. Once again the spiral binding is used as a design device.

 Nude dancers, flying. Inspired by Riebicke or Munkacsi or both.

 Photograph by Heinz Hajek-Halke. Superb montage of the same image: one reversed and placed over the other creating a "black" and a "white" image.

 Another exceptional cover design of montaged images by Hawkins.

 Ignoring and crossing the "centerline" to create a square, bleed image in a rectangular world. The white space and tall rectangular image is quite unusual page design as well.

Nude portrait, beautifully echoing the cover photograph of Sasha Stone's classic FEMMES published in Paris 1933.

Surreal photograph by Pierre Boucher, bleeding all four edges. 

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German Nudes: Akt & Die Schonheit 1900 ~ 1930s

Concepts of physical health and beauty associated with Germany and the Weimar years between the two world wars actually started taking shape in the early 19th century. Naturism, nudism, body culture, gymnastics, modern dance and sexual freedom were a substantial part of creative and artistic growth in Germany. Sadly these elements helped fuel the eventual downfall of the Weimar Republic via suppression and censorship of free expression which began with the rise to power of the national socialists, circa 1932. 

Ironically these "liberal" attitudes about the body were eventually embraced by the Third Reich as part of their Arian, ubermensch propaganda. Korperkultur and to a certain degree nudity, became part of the "official" art commissioned for the nazis and displayed in the national art galley in Munich, Haus der Deutschen Kunst.

Posted here are books and periodicals devoted to "nudes and beautiful bodies" which give a glimpse of what was being created circa 1900 to the mid-1930s.

Weibliche Schonheit circa 1905 featuring a marvelous allegorical cover illustration. Idyllic and classical, academic style nudes.

Ideale Nacktheit,1920s. Photographic annuals published by Die Schonheit magazine, featuring photos extracted from previously published issues.

An English language version of volume four.

Two volumes by Dr.Ernst Schertel, a pseudo-scientist, published by his Parthenon Verlag, 1920s. Schertel is most well known for his Flagellantismus series of periodicals.

Ausdruckgymnastik, circa 1923. Exceptional book on modern dance and gymnastics with photographs by Gerhard Riebecke. Prior to Martin Munkasci there were Riebecke's photographs of bodies in motion.

Various books on physical culture, exercise, gymnastics and korperkultur.

On of the books (this one with fold-out photographs in series showing sequential movements/exercises) from the prolific Hans Suren, 1920s.

"Female Beauty" published circa 1938, one of the first books published featuring color photographs of the nude.

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