Art Of The Day Weekly
#360 - from 16 October 2014 to 22 October 2014
Lot n° 16. Nage, Lily, Roscoff, 1933, silver print, seal of the photographer and number of the negative in blue ink at the back of the print 24 x 14.7 cm paper 24 x 18.2 cm. Estimate: 1200-€1500.
Steiner, madly in love
PARIS – He is part of that extraordinary Hungarian diaspora which left its imprint on photography in Paris in the period between the two wars. André Steiner (1901-1978) was never as famous as Robert Capa, Kertész or Brassaï but he was an active member of the New Vision movement. He made experiments as much as Man Ray (with his solarizations, photograms and double exposure), but he is mostly known for having documented in an almost obsessive manner his love for his wife. She, Lily, was a swimming champion of the Jewish circle of Hakoah in Vienna (the movie Watermarks, by Yaron Zilberman, traces the tragic destiny of this team). She was the exclusive model of his nudes and his portraits. Intimate or, on the contrary, with a war-like aesthetics (a converging tendency between the Communists and the Fascists at the time), they mark Steiner's short period of glory. After separating from his wife and his entering the Resistance, he disappeared from the photography world. Close to 200 images, estimated between €500 and €5000, describe his itinerary.
• André Steiner 21 October 2014 at Drouot-Richelieu (Binoche & Giquello)