Scope and Content of Collection
The collection encompasses Lewis Baltz's career spanning from his early black-and-white
Prototype Works of the late 1960s to his color projects of
the early twenty-first century up to and including Aqua Alta
and It's a Wonderful Life (2002). Included are original
materials-negatives with printing notes, contact sheets, outtakes for images not selected as
part of a final project, proof prints, and duplicate final prints-as well as installation
shots, exhibition ephemera, and publications by and about Baltz.
Series I, Projects, forms the largest portion of the collection. It contains original
materials for most of Baltz's major projects starting with his early single black-and-white
images known first as Highways Series and later renamed
Prototype Works. The projects are divided into two main
groups: black-and-white projects and color projects. The former group roughly coincides with
Baltz's American work, while the latter group is primarily, but not exclusively, composed of
his European work (i.e. work he created after moving to Europe). This group contains a small
amount of black-and-white work, especially among the earlier transitional projects.
The work Baltz produced in the first half of his career was essentially serial in nature.
He kept binders for each project (or sometimes for groups of smaller projects) that housed
the project's negatives, contact prints and printing notes. In addition to these materials
the series contains gelatin silver prints for a number of projects including The Tract Houses; The New Industrial
Parks; Nevada; Park
City; San Quentin Point; Candlestick Point (including two portfolios); The Canadian
Series; Continuous Fire Polar Circle and Fos Secteur 80. These prints can be proof prints, reproduction
prints, duplicate prints or outtakes. Most are 8 x 10 inch prints although there are a few
larger and smaller prints; some are signed.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s Baltz continued to produce works of a serial nature
such as his 89-91 Sites of Technology, yet he was also
beginning to create large pieces both for museums and public spaces. The binders for the
European projects thus encompass a wider variety of materials. The materials for projects
such as 89-91 Sites of Technology are similar to those found
in the black-and-white work, albeit in color. The materials in other binders reflect both
the large-scale and transitory nature of Baltz's later projects and include original
photographic materials used for creating the projects as well as photographs, cds, dvds, and
printed materials relating to the completed projects. Additionaly there are color proof
prints for 5W31 (Decay); 11777
Foothill Blvd.; Piazza Pugliese; SHHHH! (for Luxembourg); and Gladesaxe,
Copenhagen.
Series II is primarily devoted to materials that can be seen as compilations on Baltz's
career. Included are binders compiled for the two-volume retrospective publication Rule without Exception; Only Exceptions (Göttingen: Steidl, 2012)
and a binder of exhibition and installation shots. Although Baltz was a collaborator on the
Steidl project, the publication falls outside the scope of his original work and is thus not
a project in the sense of Series I. Jeffery Rian's Rowboat
portfolio is included here as an example of a group portfolio to which Baltz
contributed.
Printed articles by Baltz; articles, reviews, and notices about Baltz; and ephemera from
Baltz's solo and group exhibitions comprise Series III. These materials, while undoubtedly
incomplete, taken together nevertheless present a detailed overview of Baltz's career. Also
included are small amounts of ephemera from projects undertaken by Baltz's students at
various institutions, other assorted ephemera, a very small amount of late correspondence
received or sent by Baltz and two photographic portraits of Baltz.
Arrangement
The collection is comprised of three series:
Series I: Projects, 1967-2011;
Series II: Books, portfolios and
exhibition materials, 1988-2012;
Series III: Printed matter and
ephemera,1984-2013.
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