Paul Outerbridge
Advertisement for George P. Ide & Company

Advertisement for George P. Ide & Company

Paul Outerbridge, Jr. © G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA

Advertisement for George P. Ide & Company
Advertisement for George P. Ide & Company
ArtistAmerican, 1896–1958
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Advertisement for George P. Ide & Company
Date1922
PlaceUnited States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 13 3/8 × 10 1/2 in. (34 × 26.7 cm)
Sheet: 13 7/8 × 10 7/8 in. (35.3 × 27.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2002.2894
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

As one of the most important fashion and advertising photographers of the 1920s and 1930s, Paul Outerbridge often reduced objects to their essential forms. The resulting images are refined, abstract compositions akin to early Modernist experiments. Of the numerous influential ad photographs taken by Outerbridge, Advertisement for George P. Ide Company remains his most famous.


With his fierce attention to tone, lighting, and composition, Outerbridge managed to elevate this advertisement for Ide shirt collars from a simple sales solicitation to a stylized still life. The crisp contrast of the curved form of the collar against the checkered tile presents the product with an elegance that speaks to both high fashion and art. This is the only known 8" x 10" version of this image printed in gelatin silver. The MFAH also owns the 4" x 5" version printed in platinum, as typically preferred by the artist.


ProvenanceLois Outerbridge, Laguna Beach, California; Estate of the Artist, Laguna Beach, California; [G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Los Angeles, by exchange]; purchased by Manfred Heiting, May 9, 1995; purchased by MFAH, 2002.
Exhibition History"American Vision: Photographers from the East, Selections from the Manfred Heiting Collection purchased by the Brown Foundation for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts Houston, August 23–December 29, 2003.

"Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 23–September 22, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, verso of sheet, lower left: PO-0141
The photograph is not signed.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Advertisement for George P. Ide & Company
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