PRESS KIT CONTENT Press release Biography Steffi Brandl and exhibition texts Press images PRESS CONFERENCE 06.06.2016, 11 am Dr. Thomas Köhler Director of the Berlinische Galerie Manfred Heiting designer, editor and collector Ulrich Domröse Head of Department Photography Elke Tesch scholarship holder, presentation of findings
BERLINISCHE GALERIE LANDESMUSEUM FÜR MODERNE KUNST, FOTOGRAFIE UND ARCHITEKTUR STIFTUNG ÖFFENTLICHEN RECHTS ALTE JAKOBSTRASSE 124-128 10969 BERLIN POSTFACH 610355 10926 BERLIN FON +49 (0) 30 789 02 600 FAX +49 (0) 30 789 02 700 BG@BERLINISCHEGALERIE.DE PRESS RELEASE Ulrike Andres Head of Marketing and Communications Tel: +49 (0)30 789 02-829 andres@berlinischegalerie.de Contact: Fiona Finke Marketing and Communications Tel: +49 (0)30 789 02-833 finke@berlinischegalerie.de Berlin, 6 June 2016 : Research report on a Berlin portrait photographer in the 1920s and 1930s untitled (Renée Sintenis), c. 1929, unknown The was launched at the Berlinische Galerie in January 2014. Initiated and funded by designer, editor and collector Manfred Heiting, it offers young academics an opportunity to spend a year working on a specific body of material in the Photography Collection. In 2014, grant-holder Elke Tesch investigated the Berlin-based portrait photographer one of the most significant women taking pictures in the city in the 1920s and 30s. Eminent artists and well-known figures, among them Max Liebermann, Renée Sintenis and Adolf Loos, had their portraits taken by Steffi Brandl in her Berlin studio, until she was obliged to emigrate to the United States in 1938 on account of her Jewish origins. Not many people to date are familiar with her life and work. This research by Elke Tesch sets out to close the gaps in our knowledge and to consider Steffi Brandl s works in the context of other portrait photographers at the time. She has uncovered significant new biographical facts and furthered our insights into Steffi Brandl s methods. Her interviews with photography scholars and her thorough review of the sources have produced at times surprising results. Previously unknown works have been located in various archives. Drawing on the holdings at the Berlinische Galerie, a catalogue raisonné for the photographer has now been compiled for the first time. Thomas Friedrich Scholarship: jury and benefactors The Berlinische Galerie boasts one of the largest photography collections in Germany with around 80,000 works. It mirrors Berlin s contribution to the development of photography from 1
the middle of the 19th century until the present. Particular strengths include portrait and urban photography, modernist trends in photographic technique, author photography since the 1970s, a top-quality collection covering the history of East German photography, and outstanding works from the contemporary photography scene. The annual grant of 15,000 euros has been made available thanks to the support of Manfred Heiting, a well-known designer, editor and collector and supporter of educational programmes to stimulate research in photography, who is closely involved in the project. The scholarship has been named after the Berlin curator, publisher, journalist and historian of photography Thomas Friedrich (1948-2011). His passion for photography and his sound instincts as a researcher have set the bar high and are an inspiration to scholars working on hitherto unresearched material in the holdings of the Berlinische Galerie. Themes and focuses for research are identified by a specialist jury consisting of: Janos Frecot (former head of Department Photography at the Berlinische Galerie, Berlin), Ulrich Domröse (Head of Department Photography at the Berlinische Galerie, Berlin), Prof. Dr. Wilfried Wiegand (art historian, journalist and guest professor of modern art history at Dresden Technical University) and Manfred Heiting as an informal member. Publication of research findings The findings of the Thomas Friedrich Scholarships are published by the museum in its series Forschungsberichte. Steffi Brandl: A Berlin Portrait Photographer will come out in June 2016 (edited by the Berlinische Galerie, author: Elke Tesch, 80 pages/70 illustrations, price: 24.50, ISBN: 978-3-940208-37-8). Steffi Brandl in the permanent exhibition 25 photographs by Steffi Brandl will be presented in Berlinische Galerie s permanent exhibition (02.06. 26.09.2016). 2
BIOGRAPHY STEFFI BRANDL 8.3.1897 Born in Witkowitz, Mährisch Ostrau/Tschechien 1918-1921 Trains as a photographer at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna, taught by Rudolf Koppitz 1921-1924 Assistant in Trude Fleischmann s studio 1926 Moves to Berlin, opening a studio at Kurfürstendamm 211 1926-1933 Portraits of well-known figures from the arts, dance, music, literature and science 1935 Moves her studio to Grunewaldstrasse 46 in Schöneberg (Berlin) 1938 Emigrates in March, travelling via London to New York After 1945 Works as a photographer in New York under the name Olsen Photography 1966 Dies on 10 January in New York EXHIBITION TEXTS STEFFI BRANDL A Berlin Portrait Photographer The has been organised at the Berlinische Galerie since January 2014. Initiated by patron Manfred Heiting, it offers young academics an opportunity to spend a year working on a specific body of material in the Photography Collection. In 2014 the Research Report was devoted to the Berlin-based portrait photographer Steffi Brandl. Steffi Brandl trained in Vienna under Trude Fleischmann. She was a leading light among a number of women who opened photographic studios in Berlin in the 1920s with a visual idiom influenced by the New Vision. Eminent artists and well-known figures such as Renée Sintenis, Max Liebermann, Otto Klemperer, Adolf Loos and many others flocked to her studio to have their portraits taken. As a Jew she opted in 1930 to emigrate to the United States. Our knowledge of her life and work has remained fragmentary until now. The publication sets out to close gaps in our knowledge and to examine her work in the context of the portraits being taken by women photographers at the time. 3
PRESS IMAGES untitled (Renée Sintenis), about 1929, untitled (Hilde Koerber), 1928, untitled (portrait Paul Tillich), 1932, untitled (the dancer Berthe Trümpy), 1927, 4