Victor Hugo Etler Kraftsov, known as Victor Kraft (August 8, 1915 – July 2, 1976), was a professional photographer and life-long friend of Aaron Copland.

Early life

Victor Kraft was born Victor Hugo Etler on August 8, 1915, in

Oneonta, New York Oneonta ( ) is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, United States. It is one of the northernmost cities of the Appalachian Region. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Oneonta had a population of 13,079. Its nickname is "City of the Hil ...

, the son of Samuel Etler (born in New York City) and Bella Kraftsov (emigrated from Alexandrovsk, Russia). Kraft attended Public School 19 and DeWitt Clinton High School. He was a violinist prodigy and gave concerts as a child, later attending

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

. He studied composition under Roger Sessions. He left music to pursue photography at the urging of Aaron Copland. Kraft and Copland met in 1932, when Kraft was 16 years old, and had a close relationship until Kraft's death in 1976. Copland called Kraft his "pupil, companion, secretary and friend." In 1936, Kraft studied photography at the Santuario de Ocotlan in Tlaxcala and from December 1936 to April 1937 he covered the Spanish Civil War as a photojournalist for

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...

's ''Ce Soir''.

Career

Victor Kraft contributed photographs to prominent publications such as ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

'', ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', ''Junior Bazaar'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''Look'' and the French art journal '' L'Oeil''. His portraits include, in addition to Aaron Copland, composers and performers of the American music scene, including

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...

, Edwin Denby, Lukas Foss, Erik Johns, William Kapell, Dmitri Mitropoulos, and Robert Shaw. He also documented the Tanglewood Music Festival in the 1940s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he studied under Margaret Bourke-White and managed a concert tour for Prince George

Chavchavadze The House of Chavchavadze ( ka, ჭავჭავაძე) is a Georgian noble family, formerly a princely one (tavadi), later incorporated into the Russian nobility, also with the title of Prince. History The family is first attested in the ...

. From 1945 to 1947, he worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', but he did not like it and was fired. Throughout his career as a photographer, Kraft was also paid by Copland to be his secretary and chauffeur, and they lived together at Bernardsville, Ridgefield, Sneden's Landing, Ossining and Cortlandt Manor. They also traveled to Bemidji, Hollywood, Mexico and Cuba. A handsome man, with dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes, Kraft posed for Cecil Beaton and Carl Van Vechten.

Personal life

The relationship between Copland and Kraft remained unknown to the general public until Copland's death in 1990. When Leonard Bernstein urged an aging Copland to come out, Copland replied: "I think I'll leave that to you, boy." Victor Kraft traveled in Mexico in the 1930s and in Brazil from 1951 to 1953. In 1951, Kraft married Pearl Kazin, writer and sister of Alfred Kazin, a literary critic. The marriage lasted a few months. In 1960 Kraft married Rheba Robinson, a nurse. They moved to

Croton-on-Hudson Croton-on-Hudson is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2020 United States census over 8,070 at the ...

and Kraft found a house for Copland in nearby

Cortlandt Manor Cortlandt Manor is a hamlet located in the Town of Cortlandt in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. Cortlandt Manor is situated directly east, north and south of Peekskill, and east of three sections of the Town of Cortlandt, ...

. Copland was the godfather of Kraft's only child, Jeremy Aaron, who was mentally handicapped. Kraft did not accept the situation and in 1968 he left his wife and took Jeremy with him, traveling around the world for eight years. Kraft died of a heart attack on July 2, 1976, and Jeremy returned to live with his mother. When Copland died in 1990, he left $25,000, , to Jeremy's mother, "to be used for the support and maintenance of my godson, Jeremy Aaron Kraft", the largest sum he left to anyone, aside from his secretary, David Walker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Victor 1915 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American photographers Bisexual men People from Oneonta, New York DeWitt Clinton High School alumni