Anton Bruehl

About the Artist

Martin Bruehl. Portrait of Anton Bruehl. c. 1937. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery. © Estate of Anton Bruehl

Anton Bruehl was born in 1900 of German émigré parents in the small town of Hawker, Australia. By 1919, when he moved to the United States to work as an electrical engineer, he was a skilled amateur photographer. A show of student work from the Clarence H. White School of Photography at the Art Center, New York, in 1923 convinced Bruehl to quit his engineering job to become a photographer. White taught Bruehl privately for six months and then asked him to teach at his school, including its summer sessions in Maine. White’s sudden death, in 1925, prompted Bruehl to open a studio, at first partnering with photographer Ralph Steiner and then with his older brother, Martin Bruehl; it was immediately successful. Specializing in elaborately designed and lit tableaux, Bruehl won top advertising awards throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s. A favorite of Condé Nast Publications, he developed the Bruehl-Bourges color process with color specialist Fernand Bourges, which gave Condé Nast a monopoly on color magazine reproduction from 1932 to 1935.

In 1931 Alma Reed exhibited Bruehl’s non-commercial photographs at her New York gallery, Delphic Studios. An ardent supporter of Mexican art and artists, she may have inspired Bruehl’s 1932 summer trip to Mexico, the pictures from which she exhibited in 1933 and then published as collotypes in a beautifully printed linen-bound book, titled Photographs of Mexico. The book was well reviewed and was chosen as one of the “Fifty Books of the Year” by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Until his retirement, in 1966, Bruehl maintained an elegant midtown studio and commanded high fees for his work.
—Bonnie Yochelson

Meeting Points

Cultural Hubs New York
Photo Industry Hubs Rochester
Schools White School, 1914–42
Levy Gallery, 1931–49
Exhibitions Twenty-seven Photographers, 1932
Film und Foto, 1929
Publications Vogue, 1892–1949
Photography, 1839–1937, 1937

Artist Chronology

March 11, 1900	Born At location: Anton Bruehl	Naracoorte
1915–19	Trains as an electrical engineer At location: Anton Bruehl	Melbourne
1919–late 1960s	Lives in New York At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
1919–23	Works for Western Electric Company At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
1923–24	Studies at the Clarence White School At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
1924	Works part-time for photographer Jessie Tarbox Beals At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
1925–26	Teaches at the Clarence White School of Photography At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
Mid-1926–1966	Establishes a studio and makes commercial and advertising photographs as well as portraits At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
Mid-1926–66	Works for Condè Nast; publishes photographs in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and House and Garden At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
1926–27	Creates advertising photographs for menswear comapny Weber and Heilbroner; photographs published in The New Yorker Contributor: Anton Bruehl	New York
1927	Becomes the head of the color photography department at Condé Nast At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
May 18–July 7, 1929	Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (FiFo) at Städtische Ausstellungshallen Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich August 28–September 22, 1929 Im Lichthof des Ehemaligen Kunstgewerbemuseums, Prinz-Albrechs-Strasse 7, Berlin October 19–November 17, 1929 Stadtmuseum, Danzig (dates unknown) Österreichisches Museum, Vienna February 20–March 31, 1930 Agram, Zagreb April 5–14, 1930 Münchner Bund/Verein Ausstellungspark München E.V. (as part of Internationale Ausstellung. Das Lichtbild), Munich June 5–September 7, 1930 Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo April 1931 Asahi Shimbun, Osaka July 1–7, 1931 Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Maurice Tabard, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, George Hoyningen-Huene, Gustav Klutsis, Karl Blossfeldt, Heinz Loew, Erich Comeriner, Semyon Fridlyand, Roman Karmen, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Sasha Stone, Dziga Vertov, Yva (Else Simon), Willy Zielke, Irene Bayer-Hecht, Hans Finsler, Cami Stone Organizer: El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Dziga Vertov Visitor: Alexander Hackenschmied	Stuttgart
October 1929	Exhibition at Berkeley Art Museum Participant: Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Anton Bruehl, Tina Modotti, Edward Weston	Berkeley
November 1930	Photography 1930, organized by Lincoln Kerstein, at the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art Participant: Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, Anton Bruehl, Walker Evans, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), Tina Modotti, László Moholy-Nagy, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, George Hoyningen-Huene	Cambridge
March 1931	Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art at the Art Center Participant: Anton Bruehl	New York
1932–33	Collaborates with Fernand Bourges at Condé Nast to produce 195 color photographs using the color carbo technique They dominate the field of color photography until Kodak introduces Kodachrome sheet film, making color photography much easier. At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
1932–33	Travels and photographs in Mexico At location: Anton Bruehl	Mexico City
July 27–September 7, 1932	Twenty-seven Photographers at Wertheim Gallery Participant: Herbert Bayer, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Edward Steichen	London
October–November 1932	First National Exhibition of Photographs for Commerce, Industry and Science, at the Art Center Participant: Anton Bruehl, Edward Steichen	New York
1933–39	Creates covers for the women's-interest magazine Pictorial Review At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
November 10–December 10, 1933	Photographs of Mexico by Anton Bruehl and Industrial Photographs of American and Russian Urban Factory Groups by Margaret Bourke-White at the Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester Participant: Margaret Bourke-White, Anton Bruehl	Rochester
Mid-late 1930s	Anton Bruehl and Edward Steichen are contributing editors at U.S. Camera Contributor: Anton Bruehl, Edward Steichen	New York
1934	Group exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art Participant: Margaret Bourke-White, Anton Bruehl, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Edward W. Quigley	Cleveland
September 18–October 6, 1934	Art and Industry, sponsored by The National Alliance of Art and Industry, at the Rockefeller Center Participant: Margaret Bourke-White, Anton Bruehl	New York
1935	Publishes Color Sells: Showing Examples of Color Photography by Bruehl-Borges with Fernand Bourges Contributor: Anton Bruehl	New York
March 17–April 18, 1937	Photography: 1839–1937, organized by Beaumont Newhall, at The Museum of Modern Art Participant: Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Walker Evans, Florence Henri, André Kertész, George Platt Lynes, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Martin Munkácsi, Roger Parry, George H. Seeley, Peter Sekaer, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Maurice Tabard, Edward Weston, Jacques-André Boiffard, Robert Demachy	New York
1943–45	Creates the long-term, popular photograph series The Esquire Canteen, inspired by performances staged for troops at the front At location: Anton Bruehl	New York
Late 1960s	Retires in Florida At location: Anton Bruehl	Florida
August 10, 1983	Dies At location: Anton Bruehl	San Francisco