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INVENTORY OF THE PAUL OUTERBRIDGE PAPERS,
1915-1979 (bulk 1922-1958)
870520
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Title: Paul Outerbridge papers
Dates: 1915-1979
Date (bulk): 1922-1958
Collection Number: 870520
Creator:
Outerbridge, Paul
Extent:
16.5 linear ft.
(17 boxes)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688
Abstract: The Paul Outerbridge
papers document the American photographer’s artistic and professional
life from his earliest art studies in 1915 through his varied career
as an innovator in advertising photography, a pioneer in color
photography, and a freelance writer. The archive includes
correspondence, notebooks and diaries, typescripts, drawings and
sketches, business records, scrapbooks, a portfolio, autobiographical
and biographical statements, and intermittent clippings and ephemera.
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Language: Collection material is in
English
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Paul Outerbridge papers, 1915-1979 (bulk 1915-1958), Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 870520
Acquired in 1987.
American photographer Paul Outerbridge (1896-1958) was born in New
York City. He studied anatomy and aesthetics at the Art Students’
League of New York from 1915 to 1917 while working as a theatrical
designer and illustrator, among other jobs. In 1917 he joined the
Canadian Royal Flying Corps. Discharged after a minor crash, Outerbridge
enlisted in the United States Army and gained his first photographic
experience documenting materials and operations for the army at
a lumber camp in Oregon. In 1921 he enrolled at the Clarence H. White
School of Photography, New York, where he studied with White and Max
Weber. Although he did not complete the program at the White School,
Outerbridge demonstrated such proficiency that he was soon invited
to teach there. His first published photograph appeared in
Vogue
in 1922, the same year he became acquainted with Alfred Stieglitz and
studied sculpture with Alexander Archipenko.
Through meticulous composition and manipulation of light,
Outerbridge transformed everyday objects into formal abstractions of
mass and line, light and shadow. His innovative photographs were
widely praised and published in magazines such as
Vanity fair,
Harper’s bazaar, and
Vogue. As a
freelance advertising photographer, he reinterpreted the ‘product
shot’ in his own visual language, as seen in the crisp precision and
Cubist aesthetic of his Ide collar advertisement, first published in
the July 1922 issue of
Vanity fair (see series VI).
Marcel Duchamp was reportedly so impressed with the image that he
tore it from a magazine and tacked it to his studio wall.
This landmark of early modernism in commercial photography led to
more commissions, and Outerbridge had his first solo exhibition at
the Art Center, New York, in 1924.
Outerbridge interrupted his New York success by moving to Paris in
1925, then to Berlin three years later where he became briefly
involved in filmmaking. In Paris he met Edward Steichen, with whom he
developed a friendly rivalry while they both worked for the French
edition of
Vogue. Man Ray was a frequent companion and
entries in Outerbridge’s pocket diaries from the period mention
encounters with numerous other artists, including Duchamp, Berenice
Abbott, Kiki de Montparnasse, and Constantin Brancusi (see series
II).
Shortly after his return to the United States in 1930, Outerbridge
moved to Monsey, New York. There he concentrated on his pioneering
work in color photography, eventually perfecting his technique with
the complex tri-color carbro process. As described in
U.S.
camera
, “Technically his carbros are gems. Their color range,
their flesh tones, their unbelievable fidelity make them the envy of
all who see them” (no. 2, 1939, p. 80). The primary subject
of his technical virtuosity was the female nude, often
exoticized or fetishized with props, sometimes with menacing
overtones. The full-color realism of the nudes shocked some viewers
and resulted in scandal, to which Outerbridge responded, “What this
country needs is more and better nudes” (Outerbridge, “The Nude,”
undated typescript, series III). Outerbridge’s book,
Photographing
in color
, was published by Random House in 1940.
In 1943 Outerbridge moved from New York to California hoping to
transition from photography to motion pictures. He never found work
in the film industry, however, and instead earned an irregular
livelihood as a portrait photographer and freelance writer,
contributing articles and illustrations to photographic and travel
magazines. From 1954 until his death he wrote the monthly column
“About Color” for
U.S. camera. Paul Outerbridge died
October 17, 1958, in Laguna Beach, California.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Paul Outerbridge papers constitute the surviving body of
documents relating to the American photographer’s artistic and
professional life from his earliest art studies in 1915
through his varied career as an innovator in advertising
photography, a pioneer in color photography, and a freelance writer.
Letters to and from Outerbridge document the acquisition,
exhibition, and publication of his work, while professional records
itemize prints sold and loaned. A large portion of the archive
consists of Outerbridge’s writings, which range from early poems to
a draft and a proof of his book,
Photographing in color
(New York: Random House, 1940), to typescript drafts of articles.
Among the articles are drafts of every issue, from 1954 until his
death, of Outerbridge’s monthly column “About Color” for
U.S.
camera
. Also included are writings by others, primarily poems
and brief excerpts, but also a typescript of a play by Alvan L.
Barach.
Monthly diaries for four years
chronicle the details of Outerbridge’s daily life in the 1920s and
offer a glimpse of the artistic life of New York and Paris, the cities
in which he lived at the time. Among many artists mentioned in these
volumes are Alexander Archipenko, Man Ray, Edward Steichen, Marcel
Duchamp, Berenice Abbott, Kiki de Montparnasse, and Constantin
Brancusi.
Preliminary sketches and drawings, a student notebook, and
a teaching notebook provide insight into Outerbridge’s creative
process. Detailed notes, exposure records, and lighting diagrams
document his work methods. The published results are contained in two
large scrapbooks and a portfolio. With approximately 500 tear sheets
from magazines and journals, the portfolio and scrapbooks together
comprise a comprehensive collection of Outerbridge’s published work.
The archive also contains resumes, transcribed comments about
Outerbridge’s work, an incomplete autobiography (1929), and
brief biographical and autobiographical statements written at
different stages in his career. Materials collected
intermittently by Outerbridge, including clippings, printed ephemera,
and writings and drawings by others, point to his varied interests and
associates.
Although a substantial portion of the material is undated, the bulk
can be situated between 1922, the year of Outerbridge’s first
published photographs, and his death in 1958. Also included are
obituaries, correspondence regarding the final dispensation of his
estate, and other materials collected by his widow, Lois (Weir)
Outerbridge, after his death.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in eight series:
Series I. Correspondence, 1915-1979
Series II. Writings, 1929-1958
Series III. Notebooks and diaries, 1915-1926
Series IV. Drawings and sketches, 1935-1938
Series V. Professional records, 1922-1958
Series VI. Portfolios, 1922-1956
Series VII. Autobiographical and biographical information, 1924-1973
Series VIII. Clippings and ephemera, 1923-1966
Loomis, Maurine
Man Ray, 1890-1976
Outerbridge, Paul
Quinquela Martin, Benito, 1890-
Wood, Robert W. (Robert William), 1889-1979
Photographers—Correspondence
Photography
Color photography
Advertising photography
Commercial art—United States
Photography, Artistic
New York (N.Y.)—Intellectual life—20th century
Paris (France)—Intellectual life—20th century
Color transparencies
Correspondence
Diaries
Drawings
Photographic prints
Photographs, Original
Portfolios (groups of works)
Sketches
Barach, Alvan L. (Alvan Leroy), 1895-
Epstean, Arnold Allen