Boris Ignatovich - A Bicycle and a Car

Boris Ignatovich (1899–1976)
A Bicycle and a Car. Leningrad, 1931

A striking example of Soviet avant-garde photography by Boris Ignatovich, one of the most important representatives of experimental Soviet photography and photojournalism of the 1920s and 1930s.

The photograph was taken in Leningrad in 1931 and depicts a motor car and a passing cyclist against a modernist urban building.

The dramatically tilted viewpoint, strong diagonals, juxtaposition of architecture, automobile and moving cyclist, and dynamic organisation of the picture are characteristic of the experimental visual language associated with Soviet avant-garde photography of this period.

This particular example is a posthumous gelatin silver print made in 2002 from Boris Ignatovich’s original negative.

It was produced using the traditional photographic process on fibre-based photographic paper.

The print is individually numbered:

1/25

making it the first numbered example from a limited edition of 25 prints.

The original label on the reverse states:

“Boris IGNATOVICH (1899–1976)
A bicycle and a car. Leningrad, 1931
Klavdia Ignatovich
printed from original negative, 2002
photopaper on fiber base
image size: 25 × 37 cm”

The verso also bears the official stamp of the Russian Union of Art Photographers, as well as several blue Ignatovich archive stamps.

Artist: Boris Ignatovich (1899–1976)
Title: A Bicycle and a Car
Location: Leningrad, USSR
Date of image: 1931
Print date: 2002
Edition: 1/25
Technique: Gelatin silver / silver bromide photographic print
Printing: Printed from the original negative
Paper: Fibre-based photographic paper
Image size: 25 × 37 cm
Copyright: Klavdia Ignatovich
Authentication / markings: Russian Union of Art Photographers label and stamp; Ignatovich archive stamps on verso
Framing: Unframed

This is not a digital reproduction or later inkjet print, but a traditional photographic print made from the original negative.

The print is in very good overall condition. Please study all photographs carefully, as they form an integral part of the condition description.

Boris Ignatovich was a pioneering figure of Soviet modernist and avant-garde photography. During the early 1930s he was closely associated with the experimental photographic movement around the October Group and developed a highly distinctive visual language characterised by unusual viewpoints, diagonals and dynamic compositions.

The photograph will be carefully packed for safe shipment.