DescriptionImage of man and woman lying next to one another in the grass; their eyes are closed. The woman is wearing a striped tank top and her head is turned to the side; the man's head rests near her right shoulder and his hand covers the left side of his face.Gallery Label
This unconventional portrait of photographer Ellen Auerbach and her husband, Walter, pictured from an elevated position, could easily be turned upside down and still make sense. Such experimentation characterized the work of Auerbach and Grete Stern, her friend and business partner, who established a studio in Berlin during the 1930s using their nicknames, "ringl" (Stern) and "pit" (Auerbach).
Working during a time of increased independence for women in Europe, their studio created some of the era's most innovative advertising and portraiture until the rise of Nazism forced them to flee Germany in 1933.
Provenance
Purchased from Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY by Dr. Seth and Erin Neubardt, Rye, NY; Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2018.
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