**Originally Listed At $700**

Fred G. Korth (American, born in Germany, 1902-1983). Four gelatin silver prints, ca. 1930s. A wonderful ensemble of four photographs by Fred Korth. Each image presents a powerful composition that captures a different aspect of the American industrial scene through Korth's modernist lens: train tracks in the snow with a locomotive and a "Meadow Gold" sign at the far left; a brick building with a sign that reads "Lily's Laboratory" surrounded by gleaming automobiles parked under car ports; an array of railroad freight cars (also known as hopper cars) transporting coal and other bulk commodities; and finally, a factory worker dressed in overalls and a hat as well as eyeglasses as he reads a document while standing before a magnificent array of steel beams. Size of each: 10.875" L x 13.875" W (27.6 cm x 35.2 cm)

Born in Guben, Germany, Fred G. Korth emigrated to the US and settled in Chicago in 1926. By the end of the 1920s, Korth had learned photography and was a member of the Dearborn Camera Club. In the 1930's, his photographs were exhibited in both the United States and abroad - most notably in Japan, Vienna, and Madrid. Korth opened a studio in Chicago in 1932 and shot photographs for major magazines such as National Geographic, Newsweek, Fortune, Holiday, Look, and Popular Mechanics until retiring in 1965. In addition, Korth photographed the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. While exhibiting at photographic salons throughout the 1930s, Korth also worked as a photographer for major American companies including US Steel, Quaker Oats, and Abbott Laboratories. In 1949 he self-published a book on Chicago and his photographs were published throughout his career in photographic year books in the US and Europe. Korth's photography has been collected by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; and George Eastman House, Rochester, NY.

This photograph was in the collection of pioneering 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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#171287

Very minor creases (primarily to a few corners), otherwise very good. All are stamped on the verso: "Photograph by Fred G. Korth, Chicago PLEASE CREDIT" followed by handwritten numbers. Photos are set in protective mattes which are in good condition.