Harcover
Ballet: Alexey Brodovitch
Publisher: Little Steidl
$ 225.00
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the publication of Ballet (1945), Little Steidl’s reissue brings Brodovitch’s masterpiece back to life in all its material intensity with an experimental five-tone printing method developed specially for the project. The bespoke technique, which pushes the technical limits of offset-lithography to extremes, was developed and carried out by Nina Holland with the intention of reanimating not only the visual intensity of the 1945 edition, but also the risk and spontaneity of Brodovitch’s experiment. In a separate booklet accompanying the reissue, Holland and co-editor Joshua Chuang deliver a previously unknown story about the 1945 production – drawn from their forensic study of the original edition – that suggests Brodovitch’s artistic achievement should be viewed not just as one of the highlights, but as a singularly radical work in the history of the photographic book and printing.