Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956)
Rhythmic mixture, Gymnastics and Dance from the series “May Day Parade”, 1936
From A Portfolio of Twenty-one Black-and-White Photographs, 1924-47
Published by Cooling Gallery, London, in association with the Rodchenko Family, 1989/90.
Gelatin silver print
Printed 1989 by his grandson Alexander Larientiew in the Rodchenko Workshops, Moscow from original plates
Artist’s studio and “Edition Arcana Gottingen” stamp on verso; titled in Russian, dated & numbered in graphite on pencil
Edition 48/50
Illustrated: Rodtschenko Fotograf 1891-1956, Arkana Verlag GmbH, 1989, plate 108
Print size: 9 3/8 x 11 7/8 inches
Mat size: 14 x 16 inches
Condition: Overall good, slight handling marke in lower left, some original retouching which is barely visible
Retail: $2500
Pricing Comparables
Phillips de Pury SOLD THE COMPLETE portfolio of (30) prints for $60,000 on April 4, 2012, Lot 38, averaging $2000 per print.
Christie’s, Sale 7472 Lot 248, Valuable Russian Books and Manuscripts, 29 November 2007, London, King Street
Silver print (296 x 228mm), Cyrillic stamp on the verso 'Foto Rodchenko', 'N2/II' in red pencil, 'V. Maiakovskii 1924' in green ink
$10,355
Christie’s, Sale 1825, Lot 545, Photographs, 23 - 24 April 2007, New York, Rockefeller Plaza
The Sports Girl, 1938 gelatin silver print initialed, titled in Russian and dated in blue pencil (on the verso) 11¾ x 9½in.
$42,000
Sotheby’s, Sale L10430 Lot 12, London, May 20, 2010, GIRLWITH LEICA, 1934, Silver print, printed later, probably 1940/50s.With a photographer's stamp on the reverse.Mounted. 9 ½ x 6 ¾ in.
$19,838.75 (12,500 GBP)
Sotheby’s, Russian Paintings Part 2, Nov 30,, 2010 London, L10115, Lot 173, THE STRANGE DANCER, signed in Cyrillic and dated 1913 l.r.; further signed, dated 1913 and titled in Cyrillic on a label attached to the backboard; authenticated by the artist's daughter on a label attached to the backboard
mixed media on paper laid down on paper, 17 1/2 by 14in.
$29,758.12 (18,750 GBP)
SHORT BIO
Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ро́дченко, 5 December [O.S. 23 November] 1891 – December 3, 1956) was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design; he was married to the artist Varvara Stepanova.
Rodchenko was one of the most versatile Constructivist and Productivist artists to emerge after the Russian Revolution. He worked as a painter and graphic designer before turning to photomontage and photography. His photography was socially engaged, formally innovative, and opposed to a painterly aesthetic. Concerned with the need for analytical-documentary photo series, he often shot his subjects from odd angles—usually high above or below—to shock the viewer and to postpone recognition. He wrote: "One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again." wikipedia
LITERATURE
Hayward Gallery, Alexander Rodchenko: Revolution in Photography, various plates, Lavrentiev, Alexander Rodchenko: Photography 1924-1954, various plates Rodchenko, Alexander Rodchenko: Photography is an Art, various plates Shirmer Art Books, Aleksandr Rodchenko: The New Moscow
EXHIBITIONS
2009 "Rodchenko & Popova: Defining Constructivism", Tate Modern
2008 February 7 - April 27, "Alexander Rodchenko: Revolution in Photography", Southbank Centre, England
2003 October 17 - January 11, "Flirting with Rodchenko", Henry Art Gallery, North Galleries
1975 "Kertesz, Rodchenko, and Moholy-Nagy Exhibition", Henry Art Gallery, North Galleries