Julius Shulman
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Julius Shulman (October 10, 1910 – July 15, 2009) was an American architectural photographer best known for his photograph " Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960. Pierre Koenig, Architect." The house is also known as the Stahl House. Shulman's photography spread the aesthetic of California's Mid-century modern architecture around the world. Through his many books, exhibits and personal appearances his work ushered in a new appreciation for the movement beginning in the 1990s. His vast library of images currently resides at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. His contemporaries include Ezra Stoller and
Hedrich Blessing Photographers Hedrich Blessing Photographers (also Hedrich-Blessing) was an architectural photography firm established in Chicago in 1929 by partners Ken Hedrich and Henry Blessing. The Chicago History Museum houses the archive of the first 50 years of photograp ...
. In 1947, Julius Shulman asked architect
Raphael Soriano Raphael S. Soriano, FAIA, (August 1, 1904 – July 21, 1988) was an architect and educator, who helped define a period of 20th-century architecture that came to be known as Mid-century modern. He pioneered the use of modular prefabricated ...
to build a mid-century steel home and studio in the Hollywood Hills. Some of his architectural photographs, like the iconic shots of
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
's or Pierre Koenig's remarkable structures, have been published countless times. The brilliance of buildings like those by Charles Eames, as well as those of his close friends, Richard Neutra and
Raphael Soriano Raphael S. Soriano, FAIA, (August 1, 1904 – July 21, 1988) was an architect and educator, who helped define a period of 20th-century architecture that came to be known as Mid-century modern. He pioneered the use of modular prefabricated ...
, was first brought to wider attention by Shulman's photography. The clarity of his work added to the idea that architectural photography be considered as an independent art form in which perception and understanding for the buildings and their place in the landscape informs the photograph. Many of the buildings photographed by Shulman have since been demolished or re-purposed, lending to the popularity of his images.


Life and career

Julius Shulman was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to Russian-Jewish parents on October 10, 1910, and grew up on a small farm in Connecticut before moving to Los Angeles while still a boy. He briefly attended the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
and the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and earned pocket money by selling his photographs to fellow students.Andy Grundberg (July 17, 2009)
Julius Shulman, Photographer of Modernist California Architecture, Dies at 98
''
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''.
In 1936 he returned to Los Angeles, where he was enlisted by a friend, working as a draftsman for Neutra, to take photographs of a new, Neutra-designed Kun Residence in Hollywood with his amateur Kodak Vest Pocket camera. When Neutra saw the pictures, he asked to meet the photographer and proceeded to give him his first assignments which assisted Shulman in launching his career in architectural photography. Shulman opened a studio in Los Angeles in 1950, by that time drawing much of his work from magazines based in New York. He remained in business full-time until the late 1980s. In 2000, Shulman gave up retirement to begin working with business partner
Juergen Nogai Juergen Nogai (born 2 July 1953 in Jessen/Elster, south of Berlin) is a German architecture, art and documentary photographer. Biography Early life Juergen Nogai began his studies as a Fine Arts major with parallel studies in Film, Theatre a ...
.


Exhibitions

The
Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".
held a 2005–2006 exhibition of Shulman's prints entitled "Julius Shulman, Modernity and the Metropolis".Getty Research Institute
Julius Shulman, Modernity and the Metropolis. October 11, 2005 – January 22, 2006.
Retrieved August 29, 2008.
The exhibition included sections entitled "Framing the California Lifestyle," "Promoting the Power of Modern Architecture," "The Tools of an Innovator" and "The Development of a Metropolis". The exhibition traveled to the National Building Museum and to the Art Institute of Chicago. Julius Shulman and Juergen Nogai have had exhibitions at the Design and Architecture Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, in fall 2005 as well as an exhibition at the Barnsdall Municipal Gallery in Los Angeles 2006, Craig Krull Gallery
Bergamot Station Bergamot Station Arts Center is a Santa Monica facility housing many different private art galleries and appears in most tourist guides as a primary cultural destination. Opened September 17, 1994 as Bergamot Station the campus-like complex is ...
, Los Angeles, October 2007, and another show in spring 2009. An exhibition of their work is also scheduled in Mannheim, Germany, in 2010. On December 16, 2007, Shulman attended a showing of his architectural photography at the
Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...
. Organized by the Getty Research Institute, the exhibit included 150 photographs documenting architectural changes in Los Angeles over the past 80 years. This progression includes the redevelopment of Bunker Hill, the growth of Century City, the avant-garde architectural designs in Los Angeles such as Watts Towers, Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the
Getty Villa The Getty Villa is at the easterly end of the Malibu coast in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. One of two campuses of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Villa is an educational center and museum dedi ...
, as well as the growth of Wilshire Boulevard. The exhibition features the industrial engines at the Port of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles International Airport that helped fuel the growth of Los Angeles. Also featured, diverse residential fabric from Echo Park to South Los Angeles. The exhibit spotlighted Shulman's unique role in capturing and promoting innovative, sleek case study houses as well as the contrasting tract housing developments with repeated floor plans. In February 2008, the
Palm Springs Art Museum The Palm Springs Art Museum (formerly the Palm Springs Desert Museum) was founded in 1938, and is a regional art, natural science and performing arts institution for Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, in Riverside County, California, United St ...
presented "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs," guest curated by Michael Stern. Containing more than 200 objects, it is the largest Julius Shulman exhibition ever presented to date. In addition to photographs and renderings, illustrations and models of many of the buildings Shulman photographed were presented to complement his extensive documentation of a place that was so inspirational to him. Rizzoli published the accompanying catalog, "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs." Additionally, a documentary DVD was produced in conjunction with the exhibition "Julius Shulman: Desert Modern." Selected Shulman works were included in
The Annenberg Space for Photography The Annenberg Space for Photography (2009 - 2020) was an exhibition space in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles' Westside. Founded in March 2009, it was dedicated to displaying photographic works, ranging from artistic to journalistic, ...
's inaugural exhibit, Los Angeles. One of his last commissioned works was of the Space, which opened in March, 2009, with Shulman in attendance. Shulman's last exhibition was scheduled for July 4 to August 8, 2009, but his death one week into the show caused it to be extended by two weeks. Shulman's daughter Judy Shulman McKee—along with Krull, Nogai, Benedikt Taschen and Wim de Wit—spoke at the Getty Center on Sunday, September 20, 2009 during a memorial to celebrate the life of Julius Shulman.


Film

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...
Productions, in association with KCET/Los Angeles, featured Shulman in ''Julius Shulman – Palm Springs''. Shulman was the subject of a 2008 documentary film, ''Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman''. The film, directed by Eric Bricker and narrated by
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...
, explores Shulman's life and work. It discusses how Shulman's images helped to shape the careers of influential 20th-century architects, including
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
, Richard Neutra and John Lautner. The film won the 2009
Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature as well as awards at the Austin Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival and the Lone Star International Film Festival. The film was released theatrically by Arthouse Films across the U.S. late 2009 through early 2010.


Death and honors

In 1987, the Shulman House was designated a Cultural Heritage Monument by the city of Los Angeles. Shulman himself had a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs Walk of Stars The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes po ...
dedicated to him in 2006. He died at his home in Los Angeles, California on July 15, 2009; he was 98 years old. He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.Hillside Memorial
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Bibliography

* Head, Jeffrey (Summer 2007). “Shulman face to face” (interview with Julius Shulman), ''CA Modern magazine'', pp. 16–17 * Head, Jeffrey (Summer 2006). "A Conversation with Julius Shulman”, ''Case Study House #21'', pp. 9–12. Chicago, IL: Richard Wright * Leet, Stephen (2004). ''Richard Neutra's Miller House''. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press. . . * * * Stern, Michael (February 2008). "Julius Shulman: The Man Behind the Camera", ''Palm Springs Life'', pp. 80–91


References


External links


Union List of Artist Names, Getty Vocabularies.
ULAN Full Record Display for Julius Shulman, Getty Vocabulary Program. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California. * Finding Aid for Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Getty Research Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Shulman, Julius 1910 births 2009 deaths Architectural photographers Photographers from California Modernist architecture in California Artists from Los Angeles American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American artists 20th-century American Jews Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers 21st-century American Jews