Adolf Fassbender (1884-1980) made a substantial contribution as to twentieth-century photography in America. Alongside William Mortensen and Max Thorek, he was a leading pictorialist between the two world wars. His book, Pictorial Artistry remains the most lavish publication of its kind. It contained 40 large, lush, hand-pulled gravures made either directly by, or under the close supervision of, Fassbender. He produced the film positives used for making the plates, supervised the plate making, chose the ink colors and oversaw the printing. Many of the images in the book are rural scenes, atmospherically soft and morally uplifting. Fassbender was an inveterate optimist who wished to portray only the good in life.

These images are some of the most beautiful examples of photogravure from between the two World Wars. But Pictorial Artistry's timing was unfortunate. In 1941, the United Stated entered World War II and anti-German sentiments (against both Fassbender and the publisher) halted distribution of the book until the end of the war. Fassbender had personally covered much of the publisher's expenses, ultimately losing several hundred dollars on what is today a highly collectible title.

B. Westermann Company, Inc., New York, 1937. Hard Cover Cloth. Author (illustrator). Limited Edition to only 1000 signed by Fassbender. Un-paginated with 39 full page toned gravure plates with title page cover and details of each plate to the side page. Hardcover binding in tan cloth, spiral bound page book. A very scarce book on Pictorial Photography. Signed by Author.