Publisher Rizzoli To Release Julius Shulman Book

The book, a collaboration between the exhibition’s curator Michael Stern and architectural historian Alan Hess, features a look at Shulman’s 70-year documentation of Palm Springs’ stellar collection of mid-century modern architecture. Several of Shulman’s most famous photographs were taken in the Desert area and will be featured in the book, along with many vintage photographs never before seen by the general public.

“The book, like the exhibition, takes a dual perspective on the material,” explains Stern. “Alan Hess discusses biographical and historical context of the architects, as well as the architectural elements of the projects covered and I write about Julius' life and photography specifically. From one perspective, this is a Julius Shulman photography book. From the second perspective, this is a book that definitively discusses and tells the entire story of modern architecture in the Palm Springs region.”

The exhibition, which opens February 15, 2008, will consist of approximately 150 photographs that include locations by renowned architects including Richard Neutra, A. Quincy Jones, Paul Williams, John Lautner, E. Stewart Williams, Albert Frey, William Cody, Donald Wexler, and Palmer & Krisel, among others. Additionally, renderings and models by these architects will highlight their unique contributions to the revered architectural landscape.

The photos are compiled from the holdings of the Getty Museum and Palm Springs Art Museum, as well as private collections. The audience drawn to this blending ranges from those interested in architectural photography to mid-century modern architecture to fans of Palm Springs’ history, including its celebrity homes and celebrity architects.

“Also exciting are the new, original photographs that will be seen for the first time, which Shulman, now 96 years old, recently shot in the desert as a special commission for the Art Museum," says Exhibition Curator Michael Stern. Several of the newly-commissioned photographs are now seen as classic iconic Shulman photographs that fill out his documentation of Mid-Century Modern architecture in one of the world’s great architectural meccas. -- www.psmuseum.org