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Entertainment & Arts

Paul Outerbridge: The California years

Paul Outerbridge, 1896-1958, was a darling of the East Coast art scene, having honed his skills during his years as a fashion and commercial photographer. Two Los Angeles-area exhibitions are putting renewed focus on his work, particularly his late-career California projects. “Paul Outerbridge: New Color Photographs” opens March 28 at the Central Library, while the Getty Center is exhibiting “Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance” beginning March 31. His gift for composition marks "Images de Deauville" (1936).

Paul Outerbridge, 1896-1958, was a darling of the East Coast art scene, having honed his skills during his years as a fashion and commercial photographer. Two Los Angeles-area exhibitions are putting renewed focus on his work, particularly his late-career California projects. “Paul Outerbridge: New Color Photographs” opens March 28 at the Central Library, while the Getty Center is exhibiting “Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance” beginning March 31. His gift for composition marks “Images de Deauville” (1936).  (Museum of Modern Art / The J. Paul Getty Museum)

Paul Outerbridge

The artist was known for his careful composition and highly saturated colors, the result of the tri-carbro-color process. The technique was laborious and a print could take more than nine hours to produce as Outerbridge worked to develop and meticulously align three exposures of the same image. From 1936: “Girl With Fan.”  (Museum of Modern Art / The J. Paul Getty Museum)

Paul Outerbridge

“The Triumph of the Egg” (1932), a gelatin silver print.  (The Manfred Heiting Collection / The J. Paul Getty Museum)

Paul Outerbridge

“The Dragon Fly’s Wing” (1922).  (The Wilson Centre for Photography / The J. Paul Getty Museum)

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