Page 1 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - part 2

PLATES

Given the production parameters of this book, the number of
plates had to be limited. In the case of old family photographs, the
limitation is not merely financial: very few images remain of the
generations preceding AR. The studio photograph of his parents
(Plate 1) is the only remaining picture of his mother; it is also one of
only two of his father. Both of those photographs were sent to AR
from Poland (he brought few, if any, personal items with him on his
flight to America), so they may be dated post-1903. In later years a
large framed tinted blow-up of his parents’ picture hung in the hall at
his house on Figueroa Street, an object of his respect and his
grandchildren’s curiosity. No photographs of AR himself seem to
predate 1908, the year of his marriage. The “dress-up” pictures (Plate
5) probably were taken while AR and Ben owned a secondhand
clothing store--an excellent source of costumes. It has been
speculated that AR sporadically sought work as a movie extra, and
may have used those photos as “publicity stills”; but many of the
snapshots are either crudely printed or printed as postcards,
undercutting that theory. The late photographs (Plate 6) were taken
by his grandson Jordan (see his reminiscences).
The sculpture presented a different problem. Many color slides of
AR’s work have been taken over the years—including a series taken
by a museum photographer—but the cost of making a black-and-
white negative from a positive transparency is prohibitive.
Accordingly, another photographer (Jan Steward) was hired to
produce the monochrome images used here; to simplify logistics,
pieces held by Carmel Winkler and Jonathan Gluckman were the only
ones included in that photo session—no statement of the relative
quality or interest of other pieces is implied by their absence. Where
possible, the sculptures are grouped thematically on a plate, but
efficient use of space had to be the main concern. Many of the details
of AR’s works are lightly incised, and do not show up well on
photographs; retouching in some cases was judged necessary to
enhance those lines. No halftone reproductions, of course, can do
justice to the works, which must be seen up close and in the round in
order to be fully appreciated.
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