Press release
High-profile new acquisition: Deutsche Fotothek takes over Hein Gorny's estate from the Collection Regard
The Deutsche Fotothek at the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) has acquired the estate of advertising photographer Hein Gorny from the Collection Regard for its Archive of Photographers.
Hein Gorny (1904-1967) is considered a pioneering artist of New Objectivity. Like many innovators of photography in the first half of the 20th century, he was self-taught. His subjects are wide-ranging and include portrait, architecture, industrial, illustration and animal photography. Gorny became known above all as an advertising photographer for Bahlsen, Pelikan and AEG. He emerged as a pioneer of modern advertising photography, who understood how to translate the stylistic figures of New Vision and New Objectivity, characterized by the theories of the Bauhaus and the Deutscher Werkbund, into an applied style in his visual language. The symbiosis of two opposing attitudes gave rise to innovative visual and formal visual compositions that make him a photographic artist avant la lettre.
The estate now included in the Deutsche Fotothek comprises around 1,000 prints, 17,000 negatives as well as photo albums, numerous publicated documents and archival materials. This rich fund of material is last but not least a reflection of Gorny's intensive collaboration with Karl Theodor Gremmler, whose estate is also part of the Archive of Photographers since 2017. From 1939 until Gremmler's early death in 1941, the two photographers ran Lotte Jacobi's former studio on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm together as "Fotografie Gremmler-Gorny. Atelier für moderne Fotografie".
The director of the Deutsche Fotothek, Dr Jens Bove, says: "I am extremely grateful to Marc Barbey from the Collection Regard for the great commitment he has shown over the last 16 years in forming a comprehensive archive from the foundation stock of negatives and prints. He has also made a significant contribution to Hein Gorny's international visibility through numerous exhibitions in Germany, France, Italy and Russia as well as several publications. On this basis, we can now offer the life's work of this important representative of modernism a long-term perspective, permanent preservation and complete accessibility for science and research."
Marc Barbey, founder of the Collection Regard: "To have found a partner like the Deutsche Fotothek is a unique chance both for Hein Gorny and for me as the administrator of the estate. I am grateful that the takeover was possible in such a short timeframe and am delighted that the archive of negatives is now being processed and made accessible to researchers. In addition, the Deutsche Fotothek realizes internationally successful exhibitions and publications in a constantly growing network of partner institutions. This ensures long-term visibility for Hein Gorny."
The Deutsche Fotothek intends to digitize Gorny's entire oeuvre in the course of the year and make it accessible online. An initial selection can already be seen in the "100 Years - 100 Positions" section of the Deutsche Fotothek website.
As part of the anniversary 100 Years of Deutsche Fotothek original prints and publications by Gorny from the Deutsche Fotothek will be on display in the exhibition #MODERN in the Book-Museum of SLUB Dresden from 26.07. - 12.10.2024, alongside works by Lala Aufsberg, Fritz Block and Karl Theodor Gremmler, in particular the style-defining works for the Hanover-based company Bahlsen, which Gremmler-Gorny realized together.
As the administrator of the Hein Gorny estate, Marc Barbey will continue to offer exclusive editions for the art market and make around 250 of Gorny's remaining works available for joint exhibitions and publications.
Further Information:
- On the biography and work of Hein Gorny: https://www.deutschefotothek.de/documents/kue/70048121
- On the exhibition #MODERN, Buchmuseum of SLUB Dresden: https://www.deutschefotothek.de/cms/adf-modern.xml
- Collection Regard: www.collectionregard.de