A Staggering Revolution: A Cultural History of Thirties Photography

2. Disestablishing Stieglitz

2 Disestablishing Stieglitz The Atget Tradition Before฀a฀revitalized฀art฀world฀could฀coalesce,฀Alfred฀Stieglitz’s฀longstanding ฀authority฀needed฀to฀be฀diminished.฀Leading฀that฀effort฀were฀two฀young฀ photographers,฀Berenice฀Abbott฀and฀Walker฀Evans,฀and฀two฀recent฀Harvard฀ undergraduates,฀Julien฀Levy฀and฀Lincoln฀Kirstein.฀Although฀they฀knew฀one฀ another,฀theirs฀was฀not฀a฀group฀effort,฀and฀none฀except฀Evans฀at฀first฀saw฀ himself฀or฀herself฀as฀confronting฀Stieglitz’s฀authority.฀Their฀initial฀aim฀was฀ more฀innocent,฀to฀enlarge฀artistic฀photography’s฀purview.฀In฀order฀to฀achieve฀ that,฀they฀put฀forward฀another฀model฀of฀photography’s฀development฀than฀the฀ one฀Stieglitz฀represented฀and฀proposed฀as฀masters฀photographers฀he฀had฀not฀ acknowledged.฀In฀doing฀so฀they฀implied฀that฀his฀conception฀of฀photography฀ had฀become฀passé.฀Their฀alternative฀tradition฀centered฀on฀the฀photo฀document฀ and฀the฀geniuses฀of฀that฀form,฀Eugène฀Atget฀and฀Mathew฀Brady. ฀ Atget฀was฀the฀more฀immediately฀important฀because฀Abbott฀owned฀his฀life’s฀ 20 A Staggering Revolution work.฀In฀Paris฀she฀had฀purchased฀it฀from฀his฀estate,฀saving฀it฀from฀being฀scattered฀or฀ lost.฀Levy,฀who฀staked฀her฀to฀part฀of฀its฀cost,฀shared฀ownership.฀Atget’s฀European฀ reputation฀was฀already฀in฀the฀ascendancy.฀In฀the฀Stuttgart฀Film฀und฀Foto฀exhibition ฀(),฀he฀was฀the฀only฀nonliving฀exhibitor.฀The฀next฀year฀saw฀the฀publication฀ of฀a฀book฀of฀his฀pictures,฀first฀in฀Paris฀and฀then฀in฀German฀and฀American฀editions.฀ When฀Abbott฀returned฀to฀the฀United฀States฀in฀฀she฀brought฀the฀Atget฀archive฀ with฀her฀and฀energetically฀set฀about฀promoting฀his฀reputation฀as฀one฀of฀photography ’s฀masters. ฀ The฀details฀of฀Atget’s฀career฀remain฀cloudy฀more฀than฀seventy-five฀years฀after฀ his฀death.฀Beginning฀near฀the฀end฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀he฀made฀thousands฀of฀ photographs฀of฀Paris฀and฀the฀Ile฀de฀France,฀selling฀some฀to฀painters฀as฀aide-mémoire.฀ Man฀Ray฀and฀other฀surrealists฀valued฀them฀for฀their฀silent,฀dreamlike฀aura,฀odd฀ juxtapositions,฀and฀evocative฀reflections.฀They฀were,฀for฀avant-garde฀artists,฀the฀ equivalent฀of฀the฀objects฀trouvés฀they฀favored,฀and฀Atget฀himself฀was฀a฀kind฀of฀ idiot฀savant.฀Abbott฀was฀not฀insensitive฀to฀the฀images’฀surreal฀overtones฀but฀valued฀ more฀their฀lucidity,฀clarity,฀and฀documentary฀integrity,฀qualities฀she฀stressed฀in฀an฀ appreciation฀in฀Creative฀Arts฀in฀,฀Atget’s฀first฀American฀notice.฀His฀pictures,฀ she฀wrote,฀represented฀an฀inspiring฀alternative฀to฀the฀slick฀portraiture,฀bland฀journalism ,฀and฀enervated฀art฀photography฀that฀presently฀dominated฀the฀medium.฀By฀ hailing฀Atget’s฀documentary฀style฀as฀the฀more฀vibrant฀practice฀and฀designating฀him฀ “the฀modern฀forerunner”฀she฀implicitly฀challenged฀Stieglitz’s฀standing฀as฀photography ’s฀standard-bearer.฀Subsequently,฀her฀formulations฀became฀more฀pointed.฀“No฀ one฀man฀has฀played฀a฀greater฀part”฀than฀Atget฀in฀creating฀the฀model฀for฀contemporary ฀photography฀she฀wrote฀in฀,฀although฀by฀then฀she฀also฀included฀D.฀O.฀Hill,฀ Nadar฀(the฀nom฀de฀caméra฀of฀Felix฀Tournachon),฀and฀Brady฀among฀“the฀sources฀of฀ an฀authentic฀photographic฀tradition.”฀By฀eliding฀except฀for฀Atget฀the฀long฀interval ฀between฀photography’s฀earliest฀years฀and฀the฀present฀Abbott฀thus฀proposed฀its฀ irrelevance฀to฀thirties฀photographers.1 ฀ Besides฀contributing฀to฀Abbott’s฀purchase฀of฀Atget’s฀archive฀Levy฀arranged฀for฀ publication฀of฀the฀Paris฀book’s฀American฀edition฀by฀his฀employer,฀the฀Weyhe฀Gallery฀ in฀New฀York,฀and฀for฀the฀gallery฀to฀sponsor฀Atget’s฀first฀American฀exhibition฀late฀ in฀.฀Levy฀had฀studied฀art฀at฀Harvard฀University฀but฀left฀three฀months฀before฀ graduation฀to฀go฀to฀Paris฀with฀Marcel฀Duchamp,฀with฀whom฀he฀had฀vague฀plans฀ to฀make฀a฀film.฀His฀father,฀a฀realtor฀whom฀the฀son฀thought฀prosaic,฀wanted฀him฀to฀ take฀up฀a฀business฀career,฀but฀Levy฀fell฀into฀friendships฀with฀artists฀and฀writers฀in฀ Paris฀and฀became฀convinced฀that฀his฀future฀lay฀in฀art.฀After฀returning฀to฀the฀United฀ States฀he฀tried฀working฀in฀his฀father’s฀business฀but฀despised฀doing฀so฀and฀took฀the฀ Weyhe฀Gallery฀job,฀leaving฀it฀two฀years฀later฀in฀฀to฀open฀his฀own฀gallery฀for฀ photography.฀He฀would฀feature฀Atget฀in฀one฀of฀its฀first฀shows. ฀ The฀nucleus฀of฀an฀art฀world฀had฀begun฀to฀coalesce฀around฀Abbott’s฀article฀and฀ 21 Disestablishing Stieglitz the฀Weyhe฀Gallery’s฀activities,฀and฀it฀was฀independent฀of฀Stieglitz,฀promulgating฀a฀ competing฀esthetic฀and฀historical฀tradition฀to฀the฀one฀he฀represented.฀Evans’s฀efforts฀ were฀less฀strenuous฀but฀no฀less฀important฀because฀he฀already฀had฀begun฀to฀be฀noticed฀ as฀a฀promising฀young฀photographer฀with฀a฀distinctive฀style.฀Like฀Abbott฀and฀Levy,฀ he...