City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2019 Arts et Métiers PHOTO-Graphiques: The Quest for Identity in French Photography between the Two World Wars Yusuke Isotani The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3463 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] ARTS ET MÉTIERS PHOTO-GRAPHIQUES: THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY IN FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHY BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS by YUSUKE ISOTANI A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2019 ii © 2019 YUSUKE ISOTANI All Rights Reserved iii Arts et Métiers PHOTO-Graphiques: The Quest for Identity in French Photography between the Two World Wars by Yusuke Isotani This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Art History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Romy Golan Chair of Examining Committee Date Rachel Kousser Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Maria Antonella Pelizzari Siona Wilson Christian Joschke THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv Abstract Arts et Métiers PHOTO-graphiques: The Quest for Identity in French Photography between the Two World Wars by Yusuke Isotani Advisers: Professors Romy Golan and Maria Antonella Pelizzari This dissertation examines the evolution of photography in France between the two World Wars by analyzing the seminal graphic art magazine Arts et métiers graphiques (1927- 1939). This bi-monthly periodical was founded by Charles Peignot (1897-1983), the artistic director of the largest manufacturer of typefaces in interwar France, Deberny et Peignot. Arts et métiers graphiques has been recognized in previous literature as one of the principal vehicles for the modernization of photography in France, primarily because it functioned as an essential conduit for the radical practices developed outside the country. The interwar period is regarded as the watershed in the history of photography. Avant-garde artists and photographers not only established photography’s own expressions but also liberated the medium from its aspiration for high art advocated by Pictorialism by expanding its uses in and as new media. Arts et métiers graphiques has been recognized as a catalyst for this transformation of photography in France. However, this study argues, contrary to such reputation, Arts et métiers graphiques represented a juste-milieu, and even arrière-garde attitude toward photography in interwar France. Instead of revolutionizing photography, the magazine encouraged the medium’s legitimization as a form of high art, combining Pictorialist tenets and modernist understanding of photography. v I examine the emergence and evolution of this attitude by considering photography’s changing relationship with the contemporary development of graphic arts and media. Photography was first introduced to Arts et métiers graphiques around 1930 as an essential element for the modernization of graphic practices such as publicity and book designs. However, because of the magazine’s focus on the aesthetic and formalist aspects of graphic arts, photography soon came to be appreciated for its own visual beauty and quality of execution, rather than for its function in graphic design. Accordingly, Arts et métiers graphiques started to promote photography as an autonomous artistic practice independent of graphic contexts over the course of the 1930s. The break with past art’s conventions and reliance on graphic media have been defined as two essential backdrops of photography’s revolution in the interwar period. However, Arts et métiers graphiques proves that this schematic understanding did not really fit into France. This dissertation thus reveals another aspect of photography’s modern evolution overshadowed by, but coinciding with, the avant-gardes’ radicalism. vi Acknowledgment This dissertation would not have been completed without the support of many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Romy Golan. Her concise but thought-provoking feedbacks always helped me improve my argument. Without her encouragement and patient mentorship, this dissertation would not have taken shape. Maria Antonella Pelizzari was more than my second reader but the advisor in the history of photography. Taking her class of interwar printed matters and photography in the fall of 2012 determined my scholarly path. I also greatly appreciate the readers in my dissertation committee, Siona Wilson and Christian Joschke, both provided truly inspiring comments. The latter’s authentic French voice made this dissertation legitimate. I cannot thank enough my art history professors in Japan, who gave me an essential academic foundation for surviving long Ph.D. student life in the United States. Eiko Wakayama first introduced me to art history. Hiroshige Okada always helped me organize ideas. And, Tsukasa Kõdera, my advisor at Osaka University, not only continuously supported my study but also taught me valuable lessons on pursuing an academic career. This project would not have even started without two people who first encouraged me to study in the United States. Running much distance ahead of me, Hiroko Ikegami showed me the way I should—and want to—go. Joachim Pissarro’s familial reception, sense of humor, and academic inputs always eased my worries for survival. I was deeply inspired and encouraged by many scholars and friends, especially Max Bonhomme, Kristof van Gansen, Alise Tifentale, Sooran Choi, and Yuri Yoshida. A number of archivists, librarians, curators, and gallerists in the United States, Germany, and France vii offered me kind assistance. I would like to express my gratitude, in particular, to Martine Boussoussou, Elise Barzun, Susan Anderson, Marc Barbey, and Dominique Versavel. I am also grateful to the generous fellowships and grants offered by Joan and Stanford Alexander Award (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), Suntory Foundation, and Konosuke Matsushita Foundation, which enabled me to stay long enough in Europe to conduct archival research. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their encouragement and support. My parents Kazue and Hiroyuki Isotani never stopped believing in their son. My sister Yuri Isotani first opened my eyes to the world outside Japan. Kazumi and Toyohiko Iida, my parents-in-low, also patiently waited for me to complete this dissertation. The only regret I have is that I could not show this work to Kazumi. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to Minami Iida Isotani, my wife and best friend. She had to deal with many difficult situations while I was writing this dissertation. But she always calmly stood by me, which enabled me to be myself and find a way back to the right track every time I felt lost and alone in a long writing process. viii Table of Contents List of Illustrations Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Photography for the Art of Graphics: An Aestheticized Reception of Avant-Garde 24 Charles Peignot, Deberny et Peignot, and Arts et métiers graphiques 26 Innovating Typography in France 39 From Communication to Visual Aesthetics 57 Chapter 2 Reading Photography, Looking at Typography: The Interaction of Text and Image in Photographie, 1930 75 The Conception of Photographie 81 Reading Photographie 101 Looking at Typography 116 Maurice Cloche’s Alphabet: The Reciprocity of Photography and Typography 119 International Dissemination and Afterlife of Photographie 127 Chapter 3 Separating Photo from Graphie: A Shift from Art Photography to the Art of Photography in the Mid-1930s 130 A Rappel à l’ordre in Photography 132 Toward a Subjective Objectif 144 Separating PHOTO from GRAPHIE 169 For the Education of Amateurs 176 ix Chapter 4 Displaying Photography and Graphic Art: Charles Peignot and Two Expositions internationales, 1936-1937 193 The Exposition internationale de la photographie contemporaine 1936 197 Connection with Photography 1839-1937 222 Another Exposition Internationale in 1937: Peignot’s Synthesis of Graphisme 239 Conclusion 251 Selected Bibliography 259 Appendix 280 Illustrations 292 x List of Illustrations Figure I-1. Cover of Arts et métiers graphiques 1 (September 1927). Figure I-2. Rogi André, Portrait of Charles Peignot, 1929. Figure I-3. Cover of Photographie, published as Arts et métiers graphiques 16 (March 1930). Figure 1-1. Advertisement of Studio Deberny et Peignot, Arts et métiers graphiques 15 (January 1930): 933. Figure 1-2. Georges Auriol, specimens of Auriol, released by G. Peignot et Fils, 1901. Figure 1-3. Page layout by Alexei Brodvitch for Pierre Mac Orlan, “Graphisme,”Arts et métiers graphiques 11 (May 1929): 648–649. Figure 1-4. Jan Tschichold, “Qu’est ce que la nouvelle typographie,” Arts et métiers graphiques 19 (September, 1930): 46-47. Figure 1-5. Typographic compositions by Karel Teige, Arts et métiers graphiques 4 (April 1928): 245. Figure 1-6. Jan Tschichold, poster design for Laster der Menschheit (The Vice of Humanity, directed by Rudolf Meinert in 1927), Arts et métiers graphiques 11 (May 1929): 695 (bottom right). Figure 1-7. El Lissitzky, poster design for the Soviet art exhibition, Zurich, Kustgewergemuseum, 1929, Arts et métiers graphiques 12 (July 1929): 754 (top right). Figure 1-8. Herbert Bayer, cover design of Die Neue Linie, Arts et métiers graphiques 20 (November 1930): IX (bottom left). Figure 1-9. Josef Pecsi, Excerpts from Photo und Publizität (1930), Arts et métiers graphiques 20 (November 1930): VIII. Figure 1-10. Cover of Gebrauchstraphik 1 (1924). Figure 1-11. El Lissitzky, Photomural of Soviet Pavilion, Pressa, Cologne, 1928. Figure 1-12. El Lissitzky, Catalogue of Soviet Pavilion, Pressa, Cologne, 1928. Figure 1-13. Paul Renner, Futura, released by Bauer typefoundry, 1927. Figure 1-14. Lyonel Feininger, Cathedral of the Future, 1919.