Press Kit Research on Steffi Brandl

Research report on Steffi Brandl Thomas Friedrich Scholarship for Research in Photography

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

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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

Thomas Friedrich Scholarship for Research in Photography: Research report on Steffi Brandl, a Berlin portrait photographer in the 1920s and 1930s

Steffi Brandl, untitled (Renée Sintenis), c. 1929, © unknown

The Thomas Friedrich Scholarship for Research in Photography 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 Steffi Brandl, 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 WWW.BERLINISCHEGALERIE.DE

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).

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Research report on Steffi Brandl Thomas Friedrich Scholarship for Research in Photography

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 Thomas Friedrich Scholarship for Research in Photography 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.

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Research report on Steffi Brandl Thomas Friedrich Scholarship for Research in Photography

PRESS IMAGES

Steffi Brandl, untitled (Renée Sintenis), about 1929, © Berlinische Galerie

Steffi Brandl, untitled (portrait Paul Tillich), 1932, © Berlinische Galerie

Steffi Brandl, untitled (Hilde Koerber), 1928, © Berlinische Galerie

Steffi Brandl, untitled (the dancer Berthe Trümpy), 1927, © Berlinische Galerie

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