Kurt Baasch | American born in Venezuela, 1891 - 1964
"Kurt Baasch was born in Venezuela and grew up in Germany. He took up photography in 1905, at the age of fourteen, and was included in a major exhibition in Dresden in 1909. He came to New York in 1911 and immediately met Stieglitz, White, and other leading figures. He also joined the Camera Club of New York, where he worked enthusiastically in the darkroom with his closest photographic friend, Paul Strand. The fruits of his labor were presented in a major one-man show at the Camera Club in the spring of 1913.
Baasch's vision was boldly original. He was fascinated by modern life, and by the camera's ability to weave together realist and abstract concerns, facts and ideas….
Baasch's enormous artistic talent was not matched by a desire for recognition. He worked successfully in the export trade for years, was happily married, and became a passionate gardener. Strictly for his own pleasure, through at least the early 1930s, he photographed on Sundays and holidays around his hometown of Baldwin, Long Island. His work was admired by a handful of important figures, including Strand – who remained a close friend for years – and gallery owner Julien Levy, who presented a one-man show of Baasch's work in 1933."
- Keith Davis, An American Century of Photography, pages 65-66
"Kurt Baasch was born in Venezuela and grew up in Germany. He took up photography in 1905, at the age of fourteen, and was included in a major exhibition in Dresden in 1909. He came to New York in 1911 and immediately met Stieglitz, White, and other leading figures. He also joined the Camera Club of New York, where he worked enthusiastically in the darkroom with his closest photographic friend, Paul Strand. The fruits of his labor were presented in a major one-man show at the Camera Club in the spring of 1913.
Baasch's vision was boldly original. He was fascinated by modern life, and by the camera's ability to weave together realist and abstract concerns, facts and ideas….
Baasch's enormous artistic talent was not matched by a desire for recognition. He worked successfully in the export trade for years, was happily married, and became a passionate gardener. Strictly for his own pleasure, through at least the early 1930s, he photographed on Sundays and holidays around his hometown of Baldwin, Long Island. His work was admired by a handful of important figures, including Strand – who remained a close friend for years – and gallery owner Julien Levy, who presented a one-man show of Baasch's work in 1933."
- Keith Davis, An American Century of Photography, pages 65-66