Lot 77: ZELMA, GEORGY (1906-1984) Yuri Gagarin with His Family

ZELMA, GEORGY (1906-1984)
Yuri Gagarin with His Family, signed, stamped with the photographer’s estate stamp, inscribed in Cyrillic “1961 god./posle poliota”, titled, numbered “87” and dated 1961 on the reverse.
Cibachrome print, 48 by 41 cm.
Photographed and printed c. 1961.

Provenance: Estate of the photographer.
Acquired directly from the above by the previous owner.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.
Private collection, Europe.

Georgy Zelma (Zelmanovich) (1906–1984) began his photographic career working for the agency Russfoto in 1921; he was its correspondent in Uzbekistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Central Asia in 1924–1927. After he relocated to Moscow in the late 1920s, Zelma, alongside his peer Alexander Rodchenko, began to experiment with avant-garde photographic technologies. In the decade that followed, Zelma’s work was published on the pages of Izvestia, Krasnaya zvezda, SSSR na stroike and other periodicals. At that time he specialised in documenting major construction projects, collaborating most notably with the celebrated documentary filmmaker Roman Karmen. During World War II, Zelma was a correspondent for Izvestia, shooting on the frontlines in Moldova and Ukraine. His most important work during the war is the Battle of Stalingrad series.