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Avant-garde photography

On view at MoMA the first museum survey of Grete Stern and Horacio Coppola, influential avant-garde artists and founders of modern Latin American photography.

Grete Stern, <i>Sueño No. 28: Amor sin ilusión (Dream No. 28: Love Without Illusion)</i>, 1951. Gelatin silver print, 19 11/16 x 15 3/4! (50 x 40 cm). IVAM, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola

The Museum of Modern Art has organized the first major exhibition to examine the individual accomplishments and parallel developments of two of the foremost practitioners of avant-garde photography, film, advertising, and graphic design in the first half of the 20th century: Grete Stern (German, 1904–1999) and Horacio Coppola (Argentine, 1906–2012).

Horacio Coppola, <i>Buenos Aires</i>, 1931. Gelatin silver print. 8 x 11.6 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Vital Projects Fund, Robert B. Menschel. © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola — **Top**: Grete Stern, *Sueño No. 28: Amor sin ilusión (Dream No. 28: Love Without Illusion)*, 1951. Gelatin silver print, 50 x 40 cm. IVAM, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola. **Above**: Horacio Coppola, *Buenos Aires*, 1931. Gelatin silver print. 8 x 11.6 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Vital Projects Fund, Robert B. Menschel. © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola

“From Bauhaus to Buenos Aires: Grete Stern and Horacio Coppola” features more than 300 works gathered from museums and private collection across Europe and the Americas—many of which have never before been exhibited in the United States.

ringl + pit, <i>Spread from Ringlpitis</i>, 1931. Artist book with collage, 7 7/8 x 7 7/8! (20 x 20 cm). Estate of Horacio Coppola, Buenos Aires © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola — ringl + pit, *Spread from Ringlpitis*, 1931. Artist book with collage, 20 x 20 cm. Estate of Horacio Coppola, Buenos Aires © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola

Stern and Coppola were united in their exploration of a modernist idiom, yet despite their relationship as husband and wife (from 1935 to 1943) they pursued this goal along remarkably original paths. Having started their artistic careers within the European avant-garde of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stern and Coppola produced their major body of works in Argentina, where they thrived amid a vibrant milieu of Argentine and émigré artists and intellectuals. As harbingers of New Vision photography (as defined by László Moholy-Nagy) in a country caught up in the throes of forging its own modern identity, their distinctly experimental styles led to their recognition as founders of modern Latin American photography.

413.2011

442.2013

Still Life with Egg and Twine

Horacio Coppola, Still Life with Egg and Twine, 1932. Gelatin silver print. 20.7 x 25.7 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Thomas Walther Collection. Acquired through the generosity of Peter Norton. © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola

Left: ringl + pit, Hut und Handschuhe (Hat and Gloves), 1930. Gelatin silver print, 37.8 x 24.8 cm. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola. Right: ringl + pit, Komol, 1931. Gelatin silver print, 35.9 x 24.4 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell © 2015 Estate of Horacio Coppola

May 17 – October 4, 2015
From Bauhaus to Buenos Aires
Grete Stern and Horacio Coppola
organized by Roxana Marcoci and Sarah Meister with Drew Sawyer
MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art
The Edward Steichen Photography Galleries
11 West 53 Street, New York