Lot 528 D

Albert Renger-Patzsch himself counted the famous photograph of the delicate cherry tree, taken in 1929 in the first sun of early spring in the area around Meissen, among his declared favourite motifs. It is thus not surprising that he chose this very photograph to give to one of his important clients in the early 1930s. The large-format photograph offered for sale here, printed on light chamois-coloured Kodak-Royal paper, comes from the estate of Arno Nowka, at the time advertising manager at the 'Rheinisch-Westfälisches Kohlesyndikat Essen'. In the 1930s, Renger-Patzsch was increasingly active as an industrial photographer, commissioned by numerous companies to document their factory facilities, products, and production processes.

The format unusually large for Renger-Patzsch, suggests that he made the print in 1933 during his few months of teaching at the Folkwang School, where he had the technical facilities to print on 60 x 50 cm paper. As was typical when he gave photographs to clients or friends, Renger-Patzsch framed the print under a mat he cut himself, which he signed carefully in pencil.



We thank Jürgen Wilde, Zülpich, for helpful information