About This Image

Vintage gelatin silver print, which is printed before 1953. Titled and Shulman and Neutra stamps on verso.

A later print probably printed in the mid 1960s (it had a five-digit zip code in a stamp on verso) sold at Sotheby's on April 13, 2010, New York, NY, Lot 90 for $47,500. Its condition report noted then: "As is typical of very glossy prints, some unevenness on the print's finish can be seen when it is viewed in raking light. This in no way detracts from the overall fine appearance of this image. When examined in high raking light, a small handling crease can be seen in the lower in the lower central portion of the image – this does not break the emulsion."

On the print here for sale, some professional restoration was made to a crease, which has been reduced significantly. Image here was taken by a digital camera and there is no glare or problems (other than noted) with the image. In new contemporary white Italian lacquer frame.

See: S. Niedenthal, "'Glamourized Houses': Neutra, Photography, and the Kaufmann House," Journal of Architectural Education, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Nov. 1993), pp. 101-112; J. Rosa and E. McCoy, A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman, New York 1994, pp. 10, 70-71, 74-76, 215; M. Stern and A. Hess, Julius Shulman: Palm Springs, Palm Springs 2008, pp. 16-27; J. Shulman and P. Gössel, Architecture and Its Photography, Cologne and New York 1998, pp. 18-21, 96-98; J. Shulman, The Photography of Architecture and Design, New York and London 1977, pp. 10-13, 25, 30-31, 71-73; J. Shulman, Photographing Architecture and Interiors, Los Angeles 2000 (reissue of 1962 edition), pp. 70-71, 81, 119.

The lightly edited information below comes from the Sotheby's description of their print in the 2010 auction, although it equally applies to our current, earlier print offered for sale. "This early print of Julius Shulman's architectural icon, his 1947 photograph of the Kaufmann House, is believed to be one of only a handful of early prints of the image extant. The photograph is a touchstone within the histories of photography, modern architecture and design, and the modern aesthetic. The image became the definitive photograph of Richard Neutra's modernist masterpiece, the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, essentially from the time of its making in 1947. No other photograph within Shulman's oeuvre demonstrates the photographer's mastery of his medium as surely as this.

"The result of a carefully orchestrated 45-minute exposure, during which interior and exterior lights were illuminated for varying lengths of time at Shulman's direction, and the fading natural light exploited fully, the photograph encapsulates the subtle modulations of light, three-dimensional rendering of space, and sense of the passage of time that make the image so compelling. With its exceedingly wide tonal range—extending from luminous white to the deepest black—the print offered here possesses an object quality and presence not seen in prints of the image made later.

"The Kaufmann House was designed in 1946 by Richard Neutra, one of three houses built by the architect in the Palm Springs area. In the spring of 1947, Shulman spent three days with Neutra at the house, photographing interiors and exteriors, at the architect's request. As Shulman recounted to Simon Niedenthal, on the third day, toward twilight, he 'looked outside towards . . . the desert . . saw the light fading and it looked beautiful. I ran back in the house, got my camera, and set it up . . . When I was running, Neutra called me . . . He said "wait a minute where are you going?" I said, "Well now Richard, come on outside, it's beautiful" . . . He said, "no we don't do it, we haven't got the time, we have got to do more interiors." I said we can't stop this' (quoted in 'Glamourized Houses': Neutra, Photography, and the Kaufmann House, in JAE, November 1993, p. 102).

"Niedenthal recounts that the photograph was made in three sequential exposures on one sheet of film, over a period of about 45 minutes: 'The first exposure was for the overall exterior illumination and some of the house lights; the second for the exterior soffit lighting and other interior lights. For the third exposure, Shulman asked Mr. Kaufmann to turn on the pool light, and posed Mrs. Kaufmann to block the glare' (ibid., p. 102). Along with Shulman's pitch-perfect composition, it is the compression of 45-plus minutes of time onto its single negative that gives this photograph its quality of heightened reality.

"When it was first published in Life magazine in 1949, Shulman's photograph was featured boldly on a two-page spread. And although the article was titled 'Glamourized Houses,' it focused primarily on Shulman's photography rather than on architecture. It stated 'Photographer Julius Shulman is a master at making [houses] look dramatic,' and then went onto describe how the photograph was executed technically. As published, Shulman's photograph embodied a new idealized lifestyle, with the Kaufmann House playing only a supporting role. If Neutra's International Style masterpiece is considered by many to be one of the five most important houses of the 20th century, that perception was in large part shaped by Shulman's photograph. With its geometric forms, set in stark relief against the mountainous natural landscape, the image established Neutra's reputation as 'the visionary architect.' The photograph stands apart from all others in Shulman's canon as one of his two most famous photographs, and is one of the most familiar of all architectural images.

"It is not surprising that this evocative image became a stand-in for the house itself, or that it is through this photograph that most people today know the structure.

"Neutra's biographer Thomas Hines states that this single Shulman image--'one of modern architecture's most brilliant and famous photographs'--was responsible for the house's fame (Niedenthal, p. 101).

"Palm Springs museum curator Michael Stern wrote that 'it may well be not the house but the image of the house in Shulman's photograph that transformed' Neutra's structure into an icon (M. Stern, Julius Shulman: Palm Springs, 2008, p. 19).

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