Catalogues

This publication tracks the history of the Palace of the Maharajah of Indore and presents around forty photographs, silver halide prints and photo collages from the period, mostly coming from the personal archives of Eckart Muthesius, along with photographs by Man Ray: two portraits of the Maharajah and a portrait of the Maharajah with his young wife. The photographs of Emil Leitner, a specialist photographer of architecture and industry since 1927, were taken at the presentation of the collection of Eckart Muthesius’ creations for the Palais, which was organised by the architect himself, from 3^rd to 10^th January 1932 in Berlin, on the premises of the Porza, 3 Budapester Strasse, before being shipped on three specially chartered ships to India. The photographs of Eckart Muthesius were taken upon completion of the work in 1933 give an account of the interior design work and the architecture of the palace. Assisted by an Indian photographer equipped with a large format photographic chamber, using glass plates, he directed the shots and took charge of setting the scene. These original prints, some of which disappeared in the 1970s along with numerous negatives, bear the stamp of Eckart Muthesius and other professional stamps indicating their destination. These photographs and those of Emil Leitner, had been carefully collected by Eckart Muthesius, annotated, and typed commentaries describing the visual aspect of the building’s rooms had been glued to the back. The consistent quality and format of the prints indicate the architect’s intention to use them for a wider communication of his exceptional work.