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154

DAVID LEVINTHAL (American, b. 1949) HITLER MOVES EAST signed and dated

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DAVID LEVINTHAL (American, b. 1949) HITLER MOVES EAST signed and dated
DAVID LEVINTHAL (American, b. 1949) HITLER MOVES EAST signed and dated "David Levinthal 1975" on mount recto in pencil below image Kodalith print mounted on board 9 1/2 x 11 3/8 in. (24.1 x 28.9 cm) mount: 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm) 1975 from the series HITLER MOVES EAST PROVENANCE Laurence Miller Gallery, NEW YORK Private Collection, NEW YORK LITERATURE David Levinthal and Garry Trudeau, HITLER MOVES EAST: A GRAPHIC CHRONICLE, 1941-43, NEW YORK, 1989, pp. 60-61 (illustrated) Charles Stainback and Richard B. Woodward, david levinthal: work from 1975-1996, new york, 1997, pp. 54-55 (illustrated) With toy soldiers and dioramas constructed at a scale of 1:35, David Levinthal recreates scenes that illustrate the German eastern offensive during World War II. The images are disquietingly beautiful, as we are forced to ask ourselves if they can be appreciated for their pure aesthetics or if our historical knowledge taints their beauty. In the preface to Levinthal's book HITLER MOVES EAST, Garry Trudeau says: "Indeed within the context of what they actually represent, the very lyricism of the photographs can be greatly disturbing. Can war be beautiful? Graceful? Or does it only seem that way in the safety of knowing that it is all contrived and make-believe, that the components are only toys and not really the carriers of death?" (p. 8). This image is a direct recreation of the spring 1942 offensive across the grasses of the Russian steppes. The grasses were one of the greatest challenges for the artist as he constructed the diorama, since nothing gave the proper effect. He decided to grow his own, and his "indoor Ukraine" had to be clipped incessantly with scissors. Levinthal's photographic technique employed was also meant to augment the image's sense of reality. The photograph was printed on single-weight Kodalith paper (now discontinued by Kodak), which can be manipulated to produce tonalities similar to sepia, adding a vintage quality to the photographic document. The grainy quality is reminiscent of photojournalistic attempts to capture men in the midst of war. A narrow depth of field allowed the soldiers in the background to become amorphous, obscuring their identities as toys in the artist's attempt to make the ugly subject of war undeniably beautiful.
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