Object Details
Artist
Lotte Jacobi
Date
1938
Medium
Palladium print
Dimensions
Image: 13 3/8 x 10 inches (34 x 25.4 cm)
Sheet: 14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired through the Class of 1962 Fund for Photography
Object
Number
82.023.001
A respected photographer in both Germany and the United States, Lotte Jacobi is known for her strong(…)
A respected photographer in both Germany and the United States, Lotte Jacobi is known for her strong portraits of major cultural figures. Apart from Albert Einstein, a family friend whom she photographed on many separate occasions, she also shot Robert Frost, Käthe Kollwitz, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Paul Robeson. Looking back on her career, it is clear that she was not merely photographing the elite; rather, she was one of them. Her more intimate images of Einstein aimed to reveal the personality of the renowned scientist in situations where he felt at ease, like in his study. Both Jacobi’s and Einstein’s fame allowed the images to both preserve the artist’s photographic legacy and to provide a coveted glimpse into Einstein’s personal world. (“15 Minutes: Exposing Dimensions of Fame,” curated by undergraduate members of Cornell’s History of Art Major’s Society and presented at the Johnson Museum April 16 – July 24, 2016)
