Gertrudes Altschul: Filigree

The debut monograph on the Brazilian fotoclubismo photographer

This is the first monograph dedicated to the work of the trailblazing German Brazilian photographer Gertrudes Altschul (1904–62). Featuring an elegant uncoated paper cover with stamped lettering, it reproduces all 70 of the artist’s known vintage prints, exploring her main themes: modern Brazilian architecture, botanical motifs and still lifes. The volume includes a selection of the artist’s archival material, such as contact sheets.
Of Jewish origin, Altschul migrated in 1939 from her hometown, Berlin, to Brazil with her husband, fleeing the Nazi regime. She settled in São Paulo, where she divided her time between photography and the production of flowers for hats in a factory run by the couple. Altschul was one of the few women to be part of the well-known Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante (FCCB) in São Paulo, an important group that brought together photographers aligned with modernist photography in Brazil.