Wednesday, June 29, 2011

In the Spotlight: Anton Bruehl 1930s - 1950s

On Sunday I went to see In the Spotlight: Anton Bruehl 1930s - 1950s at Monash Gallery.
I was not familiar with Anton Bruehl's work, so it was a very pleasant surprise to discover it.
He was a pioneer of colour photography, working mainly on commercial commissions - but this was at a time when there was not a distinct line between 'fine art' and 'commercial' photography.
He had a keen sense of humour and he created some very witty advertisements. He did the copy as well as the art.

There is a good article on the Harvard Business School  about an exhibition in 1934. The theme is "The High Art of Photographic Advertising" see it  here .

Bruehl's images are technically briliant - and often amusing - the pictures of talking corn (for a Bird's Eye advertisement are very sweet). He also did publicity shots for stage shows - and these are exquisite.
There is a good range of varied works on show - and I needed more time than I had allowed to see the exhibition.

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