Grit Kallin-Fischer

with title in blue pencil on the reverse, circa 1928

Christie's New York, Photographic Masterworks 2, 12 October 2000, Sale 9432, Lot 22

Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, 2000

This photograph, on stiff, double-weight paper with a glossy surface, is in generally excellent condition. Rich, age-appropriate silvering is visible in the dark areas at the image periphery. A few matte deposits of original retouching and a curvilinear scratch that may break the emulsion at the figure's right shoulder are visible in raking light. There is a pen-point-sized rust-colored deposit of indeterminate nature in the sitter's torso. The photograph is printed slightly off-center and without a lower margin. There is insignificant edge wear. Minor foxing is visible on the reverse.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Grit Kallin-Fischer’s study of her friend and fellow-artist Alfredo ‘Freddo’ Bortoluzzi (1905-1995) was likely made in 1928, when both were students at the Bauhaus in Dessau.  There they studied painting and graphic art under Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and László Moholy-Nagy.  Both also participated in Oskar Schlemmer’s radical theater workshop, which incorporated—among many other innovations—costumes that defied conventional notions of stage dress.  In this image, Bortoluzzi poses in white face, clad in a constricting white sheath accessorized with a pair of wings.  Kallin-Fischer has deftly cropped the image to a narrow rectangle, accentuating her subject’s shape, and manipulated the contrast so that Bortoluzzi stands out dramatically against the darker background.  

Kallin-Fischer and Bortoluzzi feature in each other’s artwork; a playful photograph taken in Walter Gropius’s studio shows them together with a group of other students (Bauhaus Photography, pl. 107).  After exhibiting his work in an exhibition that was branded ‘degenerate’ by the German authorities, Bortoluzzi switched his artistic focus to dance.  He studied in Paris, and continued as dancer, choreographer, and set designer in Europe through the late 1950s.  A knee injury ultimately ended his career, and he returned to painting.