August Sander (1876-1964)

Vintage silver print, with the photographer's studio blindstamp at the lower left of the image.

From the family of Dr. Fritz Husten.

Sander, G.  1994 cover and p. 177 (with a slightly different cropping).
Westfälischer Kunstverein Münster 1997 p. 87.
Sander, A. 2002 VI/42/1.

 

This glorious print has survived in excellent condition. The surface has nothing but the lightest superficial abrasions overall, plus a handful of very small retouching marks. The reverse shows remnant adhesive from a previous mounting along the upper edge. The upper left corner has been very lightly stressed by a mount corner. The original is very slightly cooler in tone than suggested by our catalogue illlustration.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

August Sander's Self-portrait from 1925 marks his shift from commercial photography to conceptual and documentary art.  The print offered here is one of four existing vintage prints.  The three others are in Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, in an American private collection and in the collection of Dr. Volker Kahmen, Germany.  The print in the Volker Kahmen collection is annotated by Sander: 'Self portrait at the outset of my work'.  He was later to include this photograph in the section 'Types and characters of the city' of his famous Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Portraits are a central subject in the art of the Weimar Republic, and self-portraits en face and in profile often exist as series.  Sander explained: "By determining the different social strata as well as their context by absolute photography, I hope to reflect the true psychology of our time and our people." (Letter to Erich Stenger on 21 July 1925, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur (ed.), Zeitgenossen. August Sander und die Kunstszene der 20er Jahre im Rheinland, Göttingen, 2000, p. 17.)

The negative to this print is in the archives of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur in Cologne.