Cup, Saucer and Plate, 1931

About the Work

White crockery on a black table—that is all this photo shows. Yet the clear composition is full of tension and dynamic: light versus dark, round versus angular, lines versus planes. Its focus is the coolly elegant tableware. Both the dishes and the photograph were commissioned: Marguerite Friedländer had designed the ‘Hermes Service’ for the Halle airport restaurant; Finsler shot the photo for advertising purposes. In keeping with ideas of New Objectivity, all that matters is the object, its material, and its function.