Lot 9: François Kollar (French, 1904-1979) Papier découpé by Paul Iribe for Draeger, 1928 22.5 x 16.2cm (8 7/8 x 6 3/8in).

Papier découpé by Paul Iribe for Draeger, 1928
Vintage gelatin silver print, the reverse with the photographer's 'Photo Kollar Paris' stamp, dated in ink and annotated in pencil 'Papier Iribe' in other hands.
22.5 x 16.2cm (8 7/8 x 6 3/8in).

Provenance:
Private collection, Europe

Literature:
Roegiers, P., François Kollar (Paris: Philippe Sers Editeur, 1989), p.122

In 1928 François Kollar left his work at Renault factories and joined the printer Draeger. His work had previously been characterised by a strict documentary approach and tied closely to industrial development, but now the photographer entered a new world, propelled by the boom in the advertising industry, and discovered new techniques such as how to create solarised effects and superimpose images. Notably, he collaborated with the designer Paul Iribe. Kollar photographed Iribe's extraordinary series of papiers découpés - stylised Art Deco figures whose geometric patterns must have appealed to the photographer's sensibilities of old, but which took him away from imagery anchored in reality and towards a more creative impulse.