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Remembering John Gutman
by Eva Lake/Greenwich Village Gazette
No need to pause for any passé debate on whether photography---even if it's documentary in style---is an art form. John Gutmann trained as a painter, in the old school of hours and hours in life drawing, under such greats as Otto Mueller, an original member of Die Brücke. Gutmann had a marvelously trained eye, an eye which saw the details, an eye which knew what to leave in and what to leave out. Gutmann was an artist first and foremost. Photography came to him as a means of survival. As the situation grew intense for Jews in Germany, Gutmann sought a way out as a photojournalist. He bought a camera, read the instruction manual, shot 3 rolls of film and approached the Berlin agency Presse-Photo about getting out of Dodge, gainfully employed. He took the advice of a friend as to his destination: "Don't stay in Europe. The only country you want to go to is the U.S. The only state is California. The only city, San Francisco." He shot his America along the way, a country full of variants in color and race and background. Gutmann's America is amused with itself, inclusive, hard working and hard playing. While other photographers documented the depression and the struggle of the people, Gutmann saw those who rise above, who can celebrate and keep on moving, even during the depression. Gutmann bucked the trend of social realism and laid the groundwork for a different kind of vision, a vibrancy seen more often decades later, in the 50s and the 60s. He observed with young eyes. They were well-trained eyes but young eyes all the same and it shows. He was also fascinated with pop culture in way that was also way ahead of his times. "All this bad taste here which, of course, I learned to love." Gutmann influenced how we view photography in more ways than one. He was one of the first to teach classes in it, beginning in 1936. He set up a complete photography program at San Francisco State University in 1946. It would be an understatement to say that not only did the photo world rock with Gutmann's presence, but so did San Francisco. He was a link between European Modernism and the west coast. Having lived in San Francisco for part of the 80s, I often saw him around. He was no art world snob, but completely accessible and one who participated in life. He came to my parties and to my exhibitions, a point of focus in any room, sometimes offering a criticism you had to listen to. Not a lot of people can get away with that (especially as he was not my teacher), but his words were always well chosen. It was really just another form of his great generosity. http://www.thinker.org/deyoung/exhibitions/111/index.html www.moca-la.org/ex/current/gut/gut_frame.htm
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hese
times are hot for John Gutmann, the roaming, documentary photographer
who emigrated to the United States in the 30s and captured the new world
around him. Both the De Young Museum in San Francisco and the LAMOCA are
currently hosting exhibitions of this great artists' work. Gutmann
passed away in 1998.
