EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PORTFOLIO COLLECTION OF LOTTE JACOBI’S MOST MEMORABLE PORTRAITS, ONE OF ONLY FIVE FOLIO COPIES, FEATURING TEN ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS SIGNED AND NUMBERED BY JACOBI, INCLUDING FAMOUS IMAGES OF EINSTEIN, PETER LORRE AND ALFRED STIEGLITZ

JACOBI, Lotte. Portfolio I. New Hampshire: Self-published, 1978. Large folio (15 by 19-1/2 inches), ten vintage gelatin silver prints (variously measuring from 6 by 8 inches to 7 by 9 inches), loose as issued, each matted (measuring 14 by 18 inches), four original uncut leaves printed on recto, loose as issued, housed in original gray linen clamshell box.

Limited artist’s proof portfolio, number four of only five copies, a rare self-published edition containing ten original silver gelatin hors commerce proofs, each signed and numbered in pencil by Jacobi on the lower corner of the image, featuring some of her finest portraiture from before 1940, including her trademark Self-Portrait, her famous image of Einstein in a leather jacket and portraits of leading Weimar figures such as Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre and Kurt Weill.

“Few photographers captured the heady spirit of the Weimar Republic known for its cultural glitter if not its political success, with the panache of Lotte Jacobi” (New York Times). Her memorable images of the famous came to define modern photographic portraiture. Of this portfolio’s ten vintage gelatin silver prints, each an artist’s proof signed and numbered by Jacobi, eight were taken in Germany before she fled the Nazis in 1935, and two were taken shortly after her arrival in America. Jacobi’s talent for capturing the essence of her subjects is particularly evident in her image of Peter Lorre. Infamous for his portrayal of “poisonous screen characters like the child-murderer in Fritz Lang’s M before he moved to Hollywood,” the actor had answered Jacobi’s request for a portrait with a “terse ‘Yes, but only one… He arrived for the sitting in a proper white shirt and tie. Jacobi shot him as close up as possible, managing to capture his villainous look but softening it by shooting from above. It was the only shot she was allowed, it has turned out to be a classic.” Another singular portrait, “perhaps Jacobi’s most memorable photograph from the Weimar era and said to be her own favorite picture, is a sultry close-up of Lotte Lenya in 1928, here eyes and mouth heavily punctuated by stage makeup. In rehearsal for her role as Jenny the prostitute in The Threepenny Opera, she stares challengingly at the camera, her chin resting on her right arm, a cigarette in her hand” (New York Times).

Of particular importance is Jacobi’s 1938 portrait of Albert Einstein “in a rumpled leather jacket, hair askew and looking dreamily into space as he passed from writing formulations in his notebook… One of Jacobi’s most famous images,” it had been commissioned by Life but was rejected for its informality. Other classic photographs included are: a 1928 portrait of the Czech-born actor Franz Lederer in a bowler hat with downcast eyes; a distinctive 1930 portrait of composer Kurt Weill, Jacobi’s powerfully direct 1931 image of artist Käthe Kollwitz, a 1930 photograph of Grock the Clown (Adrian Wettach) and, from the same year, Jacobi’s portrait of comedic actors Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt. Further, Jacobi’s 1939 tribute to the influential Alfred Stieglitz, taken in New York, is one of the few that captures him in a genial smile, and her trademark 1930 Self-Portrait provides a rare glimpse of this artist who rarely allowed herself to be seen on film. With four loose folio leaves of title page, brief essay by curator Dr. Otto Steinert, colophon leaf and list of photographs. Number four of only five copies, with ten hors commerce proofs, printed in 1978, each photograph matted and numerically stamped on the mat; published simultaneously with a limited edition of 25 numbered copies, no priority established.

A fine copy.