Photos of the 20th Century

by Maria Mitoglou

This work provides a fascinating insight into Germany's L. Fritz Gruber photography collection; from conceptual art to abstraction, all the major movements and genres are represented via a vast selection of the century's most remarkable photographs.

Genres: Photography, Art

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this book is great - a catalogue of top twentieth century photographers, with a biography and some of their finest work from the Museum Ludwig Cologne's collection. The execution of the book, however, falls short of the mark. I realise that the book is a cut-down version of a much more extensive work, but judging by the reviews to that work the same problem arises: the biography and annotation of the works is, at best, perfunctory, and in general dry and uninteresting. Whether this is the fault of the author or translator, I do not know, but if I was judging this work on the text alone it would struggle to reach two stars. Thankfully, the photographs themselves are strong enough in their own right to lift this book above that level... but not enough that I could heartily recommend it.

[AjourneyACROSStheSEVENseas · Rating 5 out of 5]

20th Century Photography
Ludwig Museum in Cologne

It’s fantastic that the first photographers experimented with so many different aspects of photography and discovered new perspectives.
Moreover, the combined approach with concise texts and representative photos seems very interesting for exploring the world of 20th-century photography.

I had underestimated the power of art books. The book remained silent in the library for about 15 years.
It was time to pleasantly surprise me and accompany me this summer.

It's a small book with condensed information that introduces you to the world of 20th-century photographers. I recommend it if someone wants to quickly learn about this era.

[Roy McDine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent mix of 20th c photographers, including many I hadn't heard of which was of great interest for further research.

[Prima Seadiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a $1.99 thrift find I was happy. Personally I would not buy it new.
Based on the collection of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne it has a decent overview. If you have ever looked at other photo books you will recognize many of the photographs.
It includes some women photographers such as Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Margret Bourke-White and Barbara Klemm but apparently no Bernice Abbott Imogen Cunningham or Helen Levitt in the collection. The only African-American photographer represented appeared to be Gordon Parks (he gets it the 4th star).