DAVID "CHIM" SEYMOUR (American, 1911-1956). CHILDREN COLLECTION; 18 WORKS, some with labels, stamps, and inscriptions. Photographs mounted on aluminum - Unframed: 60 in. x 40 in., each Estimate $4,000-6,000
This collection of framed and panel mounted prints by Robert Capa, Werner Bischoff, David Seymour ("Chim"), Dan Weiner, and Leonard Freed represents of substantial segments of several influential exhibitions on photo-journalism organized in the 1960s by Magnum Photos, the prestigious photojournalists's cooperative, and by the Fund for Concerned Photography in collaborations with the Riverside Museum. Sets of these shows-- Photographs by Robert Capa (1960), Robert Capa War Photographs (1960), The World of Werner Bischof (1961), Chim's Times (1966), and The Concerned Photographer (1967)--were toured by the Smithsonian Institution in the 1960s and early 1970s. This collection consists of the original exhibition panels, as well as both panel-mounted and framed individual prints, used in these touring shows. It was discovered in Puerto Rico in the original Smithsonian shipping crates, after the crates were purchased at a United States Postal Service auction of unclaimed property. Internal evidence suggests that the one-man show exhibition sets may have been cannibalized to assemble or refurbish one or more of the touring sets of The Concerned Photographer (1968), one of the most widely circulated and acclaimed photography exhibitions of the late 1960s.
This material represents five of the six photographers featured in the Concerned Photographer--Werner Bischof, Robert Capa, David Seymour ("Chim"), Leonard Freed, and Dan Weiner; only André Kertesz is missing. It includes some of their most iconic images: Capa's Death of a Loyalist Soldier and D-Day, June 6, 1944; Bischof's Indian Dance; and Seymour's Disturbed Child, Poland, 1949, among many others. Almost all the prints (and notably the majority of the Capas) appear to have been made from the original negatives, many of which were retired a number of years ago. Most of the prints on board and masonite are in relatively good condition, with some minor surface damage or staining. Many of the prints mounted on aluminum panels are virtually pristine but others show damage resulting from corrosion of the aluminum support, which has caused blistering of the emulsion and the extrusion of aluminum oxide crystals onto the surface of the prints mounted on them. Interestingly, a number of the duplicate pairs consist of damaged and undamaged-but otherwise identical-aluminum panels.
The collection consists of aluminum, board, and masonite exhibit panels upon which one or more photographic prints are mounted, as well as individual framed photographic prints, and title, text and acknowledgement panels.
1. All the photographs are gelatin silver prints – most likely from the original negatives (but not verified) as they were printed in the late 1950s/early 1960s for the traveling exhibitions. They are printed like any other gelatin silver print and then mounted on the aluminum panels for exhibition purposes. It is undetermined what adhesive was used however it is most likely NOT water solvent because none of the prints lifted from the mount while stored in a humid, non-climate controlled warehouse. If individual images are wanted the aluminum panels would probably have to be cut.
2. Undetermined by whom prints were made. Since the exhibitions were assembled by Magnum, The Riverside Museum and traveled by SITES – I would image a highly skilled technician printed them – with supervision from possibly someone from Magnum or Cornell Capa (Robert Capa's brother and founder of the International Center for Photography in 1974).
3. As far is known he used a 35mm camera but do not know which brand.
4. The photographs were taken between 1934 and 1956. Images included in his group of prints are some of his iconic photographs: Anti-war Rally, St. Cloud, Paris, 1936; Prostitute near Krupp Works, Essen, 1947, Bernard Bereson, Borghese Gallery, Rome, 1955 and a number of his photographs of children (Chim loved children, loved to photograph them and was greatly concerned about their welfare) including Tereska (Polish girl at blackboard who grew up in a concentration camp), 1948.
