Florence Henri

Florence Henri's work occupied a central place in the world of avant-garde photography in the late 1920s and this survey pays homage to the artist's essential contribution. Accompanying an exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, the volume offers an overview of Henri's work produced between 1927 and 1940, including her iconic self-portraits and still lifes as well as her lesser-known portraits of her contemporaries, photomontages, collages and documentary work. László Moholy-Nagy declared that "with Florence Henri's photos, photographic practice enters a new phase—the scope of which would have been unimaginable before today. Above and beyond the precise and exact documentary composition of these highly defined photos, research into the effects of light is tackled not only through abstract photograms, but also in photos of real-life subjects … Reflections and spatial relationships, superposition and intersections are just some of the areas explored from a totally new perspective...." Henri remains an inspiration for photographers, artists and design enthusiasts alike.
Florence Henri (1893–1982) initially studied painting at the Academie Moderne in Paris. In 1928 she turned to photography after spending a semester at the Dessau Bauhaus. Henri continued to make photographs until World War II when the Nazi occupation of France forbade her photographic style and materials became difficult to source. She turned her attention to abstract painting and continued to paint until her death in the early 1980s.