A collection of photographs by Bill Brandt and a group of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe and others have been transferred to the Tate and Ulster Museum respectively. The transfers have been made under the governement's Cultural Gifts and Acceptance in Lieu schemes. The value of the AIL to the Ulster Museum was £28,409.
The Tate has received a collection of 73 photographs by the photographer Bill Brandt (1904-1983), created from the 1930s to 1979 and donated by John-Paul Kernot. The photographer and photojournalist Bill Brandt was one of many emigrants from Nazi Germany to Britain who made huge contributions to the cultural life of their adopted homeland. Among the most important photographers working in Britain in the 20th century, Brandt is particularly well known for his documentation of societal disparities across Britain, and for his powerful landscape and portrait photographs. In his work, social commentary is tempered by an often dark and poetic beauty. This collection is a careful selection of rare tonal vintage prints (made at or close to the time of the negatives) covering the range of Brandt’s career, but it is especially rich in wartime photographs and landscapes. Significantly, within the collection are some of the actual prints used by Brandt for his publications and these prints carry his annotations. The allocation of the Brandt photographs will transform Tate and the nation’s holdings of this key figure in modern British photography.
The Ulster Museum received five photographs by Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Horst P Horst, Boyd Webb and Robert Mapplethorpe. The photographs are characteristic examples of the work of five internationally recognised late 20th-century photographers, all of whom have significantly influenced the history of photography and its relevance to other arts and popular culture. Horst P. Horst, Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber all made their names as fashion photographers, while in his mature work Boyd Webb, who trained as a sculptor, creates and then photographs complex theatrical constructs. Better known for his portraits, Robert Mapplethorpe is represented in the collection by a beautiful still life.
See: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/24340/download?attachment
Images: Top: Tree in Autumn with crescent moon, 1942 by Bill Brandt. Photo: © Bill Brandt Archive Ltd
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