John F. Collins (American, 1888-1990). Bromoil gelatin silver print photograph, 1927. A striking "Machine Age" photograph of an adding machine by John F. Collins that was exhibited in the International Photographic Salon at the 1933 A Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago. In this work, Collins took an everyday object and transformed it to a work of modern art by focusing on shapes and sharp contrasts between light and dark in his photograph. Collins' magical use of light created a marvelous shadow beyond the adding machine, presenting an elegant silhouette. Throughout the 1920s, Collins used avant-garde photography to zoom in on modern tools of technology with a studio camera of his own design that he called Big Bertha, oftentimes creating a sacred visual aura to elevate everyday objects as we see in this photo. Size of photo: 10.875" L x 13.875" W (27.6 cm x 35.2 cm) Size of matte: 15.25" L x 16.25" W (38.7 cm x 41.3 cm)

John F. Collins was part of the first generation of 20th century American photographers - along with Edward Steichen, Charles Sheeler, and others - who employed avant-garde ideas into their commercial work and saw no distinction between fine and applied photography, much like the Bauhaus and Constructivist photographers in Europe. His creations reflected the Machine Age when modernists paid homage to America's glistening man-made environment and mechanical forms - everything from streamlined automobiles, airplanes and locomotives to skyscrapers and bridges and yes, even seemingly ordinary objects like typewriters and adding machines! What's more, this piece was exhibited at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, and technological innovation was the theme of the fair. Its motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts", conveying the idea that science and American life were intertwined.

"Collins's work was usually simple, elegant, refined in conception and highly dramatic. The pictures emphasized Cubist flattened space, overlapping planes of light, vigorous and subtle tones and textures, to accentuate boldly the forms of the objects, which were treated as abstract shapes. Collins's powerful graphic images called attention to the uniqueness of each object, emphasizing 'the thing itself.' This was the core and heart of avant-garde photography of the 1920s." ("John F. Collins Photographs 1904-1946" Photofind Gallery Inc. 1987)

This photograph once belonged to pioneering collector and patron of the arts, Ginny Williams. Sotheby's hosted a series of auctions featuring art and photography in the Ginny Williams Collection in June and July of 2020. Their press release began as follows, "Born in rural Virginia in 1927, Ginny moved to Denver, Colorado in the late 1950s with her husband, Carl Williams. An avid photographer herself, who studied with Austrian-American photojournalist and photographer Ernst Haas, her collecting journey began with classical figurative photography. Her passion and keen eye eventually prompted her to open her namesake gallery in Denver in the 1980s. While her passion for photography never waned, remaining a primary focus of both her gallery and private collection, her voracious curiosity quickly widened her curatorial focus. Over time, Ginny became increasingly courageous and experimental in her selections, venturing into Abstract Expressionism and Contemporary Art and following her artists themselves through gallery shows and museum exhibitions. As the years passed, Ginny became as much of a trailblazer as the artists she collected."

Provenance: private Idledale, Colorado, USA collection; ex-Ginny Williams collection of Denver, Colorado

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#171273

Minute loss to tip of upper left corner that only effects the white border of the photograph. Minor crease marks as shown. John F. Collins stamp on the verso. "1927 VINTAGE $1200" and "PF3857" handwritten in pencil on verso. Set in a matte that shows some age wear with stains, toning, and missing corner mount. Matte has a World's Fair sticker on the verso that reads, "EXHIBITED INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SALON 1933 A CENTURY OF PROGRESS CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR CHICAGO CAMERA CLUB" - in addition, "pg 328" is handwritten in pencil on the verso of the matte.