Robert Delpire

Robert Delpire (24 January 1926 – 26 September 2017), also nicknamed "Bob" , was an art publisher, editor, curator, film producer and graphic designer who lived and worked in Paris. He predominantly concerned himself with documentary photography, influenced by his interest in anthropology.

Delpire standing beside a display of Photo Poche books at the retrospective exhibition Delpire & Co. at Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, 2009.

Delpire was editor-in-chief of the cultural review Neuf. He published books of photography, illustration and graphic art through Éditions Delpire and Photo Poche. Photo Poche has been described as "the most successful series of photography monographs ever published", books that "have introduced successive generations to photography". Delpire was the first to publish many notable books of photography including Les Américains (1958, The Americans) by Robert Frank, "perhaps the most influential photography book of the 20th century"; and Les Gitans (1975, Gypsies) by Josef Koudelka, "one of the defining photobooks of the 20th century".

He was director of Centre national de la photographie, and had his own gallery, Galerie Delpire. His company Delpire Productions has produced various films, including Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966, directed by William Klein). He was a key figure in 1960s advertising as a graphic designer with his advertising agency, Delpire Werbung.

Delpire was awarded the International Centre of Photography's (ICP) Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal. The Photo Poche collection won the Prix Nadar and ICP's Infinity Award, Many of the books he edited and published, and films he produced, have also received notable awards.

The retrospective exhibition, Delpire & Co., was shown at Rencontres d'Arles festival, Arles; Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris; then simultaneously across four locations in New York.

Life and work Delpire was born in Paris, France, on 24 January 1926. As a medical student, Delpire became editor-in-chief of Neuf (Nine), the Maison de la Médecine's cultural review for its doctors. Neuf devoted much of its content to photography by Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Izis, Willy Ronis and Robert Frank. The Americans was "One of Delpire's pivotal contributions to photography": The Encyclopédie Essentielle series also included Les Allemands (The Germans, 1963) by René Burri.

Delpire & Co. also published children's books with its Dix sur Dix (Ten Out of Ten) series, employing illustrators such as André François and Alain Le Foll. Its first was the début publication in book form of Crocodile Tears (1955) by André François, having already published it in Neuf No. 9 in 1953. Delpire & Co. was the first French publisher of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are For a decade from around the mid 1950s, Delpire, in partnership with Claude Puech, produced sales brochures and posters for Citroën, using the work of photographers (Helmut Newton, Sarah Moon, and others), illustrators, painters and typographers.

Delpire opened Galerie Delpire in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, in 1963; and at the time of his death served on its advisory board.

Delpire was married to the photographer Sarah Moon.

He died on 26 September 2017 in Paris at the age of 91.

Publications

Notable publications first published by Delpire Les Américains (1958; The Americans) by Robert Frank.

Notable publications published by Delpire, first published elsewhere Max et les Maximonstres = Where the Wild Things Are. Paris: Delpire, 1967. By Maurice Sendak. Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris, 28 October 2009 – 24 January 2010. Simultaneously across Aperture Gallery, New York, 10 May – 19 July 2012; Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, Payne Whitney House, New York, 11 May – 8 June 2012; and La Maison Française (New York University), New York, 21 May – 19 July 2012. A retrospective. A Tribute to Robert Delpire Through the Work of Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Josef Koudelka, Duane Michals and Paolo Roversi, 10 May – 16 June 2012, Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY.

Exhibitions curated by Delpire Citroën, graphic arts and publicity, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris / Les Arts Décoratifs(?), 1965. De qui s'agit-il?, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 30 April – 27 July 2003. Photographs by Cartier-Bresson. Demain/Hier = Tomorrow/Yesterday, Magnum Gallery, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, 20 November 2009 – 30 January 2010. Photographs by Alec Soth, Trent Parke, Mark Power, Jim Goldberg, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Paolo Pellegrin, Thomas Dworzak, Cristina García Rodero, Larry Towell and Carl de Keyzer.

Awards

Awards for Delpire 1995: Centenary Medal from the Royal Photographic Society, Bath. 1960: Afrique by Emil Schulthess won the Prix Nadar. 1978: Gitans la Fin du Voyage = Gypsies by Josef Koudelka won the Prix Nadar. 1984: Photo Poche collection from Centre National de la Photographie won the Prix Nadar. 1985: Infinity Award: Publication award for fr:Photo Poche from the International Centre of Photography. 1967: Who Are You, Polly Magoo? won the Prix Jean Vigo.

Explanatory notes