Original vintage gelatin silver photograph, 8 × 10 inches, depicting Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, completed in 1951. A striking exterior view of the glass-and-steel pavilion, emphasizing the rhythmic structural frame, elevated terrace, and entrance steps against a dramatic cloud-filled sky. Photographed by Bill Hedrich of Hedrich-Blessing, the celebrated Chicago architectural photography studio.
The original cover photograph for the October 1951 issue of Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building, featuring one of the earliest major published presentations of Mies’s newly completed masterpiece. The verso bears the Hedrich-Blessing studio stamp, negative number 14490-H, the printed photographic credit to Bill Hedrich, and the red property stamp of The Magazine of Building, together with contemporary editorial annotations including “COVER” in pencil and “Pub. Oct. ’51” in ink. A further manuscript annotation identifies the subject as Mies van der Rohe’s house for Dr. Edith B. Farnsworth, Fox River, Illinois.
An exceptional architectural and editorial artifact, documenting the original dissemination of one of the defining works of twentieth-century modernism. The convergence of the photographer’s studio identification, negative number, magazine property stamp, and contemporary publication annotations establishes a particularly compelling provenance and publication history, distinguishing this period print from later reproductions of the celebrated image.
Condition: Scattered marginal wear and handling creases, with several localized areas of yellowish surface disturbance, principally toward the lower left of the image. Mild horizontal curling along the top and bottom edges, recto-convex (emulsion-in). Contemporary editorial and production markings retained. An evocative working photograph with its original publication history substantially preserved. Note: the lead image of the photograph is followed by a reproduction of the Architectural Forum cover and a cropped image of the present photograph for comparison.
Original vintage gelatin silver photograph, 8 × 10 inches, depicting Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, completed in 1951. A striking exterior view of the glass-and-steel pavilion, emphasizing the rhythmic structural frame, elevated terrace, and entrance steps against a dramatic cloud-filled sky. Photographed by Bill Hedrich of Hedrich-Blessing, the celebrated Chicago architectural photography studio.
The original cover photograph for the October 1951 issue of Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building, featuring one of the earliest major published presentations of Mies’s newly completed masterpiece. The verso bears the Hedrich-Blessing studio stamp, negative number 14490-H, the printed photographic credit to Bill Hedrich, and the red property stamp of The Magazine of Building, together with contemporary editorial annotations including “COVER” in pencil and “Pub. Oct. ’51” in ink. A further manuscript annotation identifies the subject as Mies van der Rohe’s house for Dr. Edith B. Farnsworth, Fox River, Illinois.
An exceptional architectural and editorial artifact, documenting the original dissemination of one of the defining works of twentieth-century modernism. The convergence of the photographer’s studio identification, negative number, magazine property stamp, and contemporary publication annotations establishes a particularly compelling provenance and publication history, distinguishing this period print from later reproductions of the celebrated image.
Condition: Scattered marginal wear and handling creases, with several localized areas of yellowish surface disturbance, principally toward the lower left of the image. Mild horizontal curling along the top and bottom edges, recto-convex (emulsion-in). Contemporary editorial and production markings retained. An evocative working photograph with its original publication history substantially preserved. Note: the lead image of the photograph is followed by a reproduction of the Architectural Forum cover and a cropped image of the present photograph for comparison.
