© Moissej Nappelbaum, Anna Akhmatova, 1926
Galerie Berinson Lindenstr. 34 10969 Berlin Allemagne
Galerie Berinson presents Moissej Nappelbaum, the unrivaled portrait photographer of Soviet Russia.
The exhibition comprises more than 50 rare original prints, including portraits of Vladimir Tatlin, Anna Akhmatova, Sergej Eisenstein, Maxim Gorki, Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergej Prokofiev and Lion Feuchtwanger.
Nappelbaum’s career began with a craft apprenticeship in Minsk, after which he travelled throughout Russia and the United States. In 1910 he moved with his family to Saint Petersburg, where he opened his studio on Nevsky Prospect.
Maxim Gorki, ca. 1930 © Nappelbaum
After Nappelbaum took the first official portrait of Lenin in 1918, an image distributed by the millions, his reputation was sealed. His St. Petersburg portrait studio quickly became the venue of choice for politicians, scientists, painters, sculptors, poets, composers and actors, all avid to be immortalized.
Sergej Eisenstein, 1932 © Nappelbaum
Nappelbaum created the definitive portraits of the new Soviet elite. Like Hugo Erfurth’s portraits of artists and scholars in Germany, Moissej Nappelbaum’s portraits captured the image of an era in Soviet Russia. They attest to his standing as the incomparable chronicler of his time.
Boris Pasternak, 1929 © Nappelbaum
An exhibition catalogue is forthcoming (Autumn 2012).
Vignette : © Moissej Nappelbaum, Anna Akhmatova, 1926