Einstein by his favourite photographer - photo 1
Einstein by his favourite photographer - photo 2
Einstein by his favourite photographer - photo 1

Einstein by his favourite photographer

Lot 14
16.07.2020 06:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 20 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 370003
Lot 14 | Einstein by his favourite photographer
Estimate value
£ 25 000 – 35 000
Albert Einstein (18791-1955).

Portrait photograph by Lotte Jacobi signed ('Albert Einstein') and inscribed in German to the 'Einstein-Klub', n.p. [Berlin], 1928.

Also signed by the photographer below the image 'repr. Jacobi', and stamped on the verso of the mount 'ATELIER JACOBI / Charlottenburg'. The print 215 x 166mm, mount 308 x 256mm (old markings from mount).

An important and strikingly soulful portrait of Einstein, depicting the scientist at the height of his powers. Lotte Jacobi (1896-1990) was arguably Einstein's favourite photographer, photographing him on multiple occasions and responsible for one of the best known images of the scientist, in his Princeton study in 1938, wearing a leather jacket. Like Einstein, Jacobi lived and worked in Berlin before fleeing Nazi Germany for the USA, and this may well be her earliest photograph of him, dating from shortly after she took over her father's Berlin photography studio in 1927. Einstein's wing collar and striped tie are noticeably similar to those in the famous Walter Benington photograph for Elliot & Fry of 18 May 1928 at the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG x82213). We have traced no other examples of the present image, and given that Jacobi abandoned her photographic archive in Berlin when she fled Germany, this may be the sole surviving example of the original photograph. The 'Einstein Club' to which it is inscribed was presumably some form of fan club – possibly a group of young, scientifically-oriented admirers – reflecting the remarkable degree of popular fame attained by Einstein in the 1920s.
Auction house category:Photography
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
24.06.2020 – 16.07.2020
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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