Rudolf Koppitz (January 4, 1884 – July 8, 1936) was a Czechoslovak photographer, and photo-secessionist whose work is seen as maintaining the photographic style of pictorialism well past its heyday in light of the straight photography and modernist movements in photography at that time and was one of the leading representatives of art photography in Vienna between the world wars. Koppitz is best known for his works of the human figure and his use of the nude in natural settings.
During the First World War Koppitz found himself putting his talents to use as an aerial reconnaissance photographer. The bulk of his the body of work produced during this time consisted of landscapes captured during his areal reconnaissance work, his favorite of which was the study of water from the air and the geometric elements of flying machines that carried him into war.
After the war, Koppitz returned to the Institute to teach photography where in 1923 he took the nude self-portrait, In the Bosom of Nature, in which he framed himself by tree trunks, rocks, snowy mountains, and is posed to convey a dreamlike harmony reminiscent of a symbolist painting and graphic art. (See the photograph above)
Koppitz’s work is marked by a pronounced awareness of form, line, and the surface play of light and shadow. Early in his career, Koppitz was known for staging groups of subjects in the style of the Vienna Secession, the most well known example of this being his Bewegungsstudie, “Motion Study”.
His Bewegungsstudie (above) has become the Koppitz’s signature image, and was also his best-seller. Prints of the image were purchased by, among others, the Toledo Museum of Art; the New York Camera Club notable Joseph Bing, head of that club’s print committee; and the Englishman Stephen Tyng, who published it in a small portfolio of works from his collection.
