Trude Fleischmann (22 December 1895 – 21 January 1990) was an Austrian-born American photographer. After becoming a notable society photographer in Vienna in the 1920s, she re-established her business in New York in 1940.

Early life

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in December 1895, Fleischmann was the second of three children in a well-to-do Jewish family. After matriculating from high school, she spent a semester studying art history in Paris followed by three years of photography at the '' Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Photographie und Reproduktionsverfahren'' in Vienna. She then worked for a short period as an apprentice in

Dora Kallmus Dora Philippine Kallmus (20 March 1881 – 28 October 1963), also known as Madame D'Ora or Madame d'Ora, was an Austrian fashion and portrait photographer. Early life Dora Philippine Kallmus was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1881 to a Jewish fa ...

' fashionable ''Atelier d'Ora'' and for a longer period for photographer Hermann Schieberth. In 1919, she joined the ''Photographische Gesellschaft in Wien'' (Vienna Photographic Society).

Career

In 1920, at the age of 25, Fleischmann opened her own studio close to Vienna's city hall. Her glass plates benefitted from her careful use of diffuse artificial light."Trude Fleischmann"
(from Muse XX, October 2007), Luminous Lint. Retrieved 16 March 2013. Photographing music and theatre celebrities, her work was published in journals such as ''Die Bühne'', ''Moderne Welt'', Welt und Mode'' and ''Uhu''. She was represented by Schostal Photo Agency (Agentur Schostal). In addition to portraits of Karl Kraus and

Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely- ...

, in 1925 she took a nude series of the dancer Claire Bauroff which the police confiscated when the images were displayed at a Berlin theatre, bringing her international fame. Fleischmann also did much to encourage other women to become professional photographers. With the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

in 1938, Fleischmann was forced to leave the country. She moved first to Paris, then to London and finally, together with her former student and companion Helen Post, in April 1939 to New York. In 1940, she opened a studio on West 56th Street next to

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

which she ran with Frank Elmer who had also emigrated from Vienna. In addition to scenes of New York City, she photographed celebrities and notable immigrants including

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expres ...

, Lotte Lehmann,

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (german: Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius, hu, Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan ...

, Count

Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi (16 November 1894 – 27 July 1972) was an Austrian-Japanese politician, philosopher and Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi. A pioneer of European integration, he served as the founding president of ...

and

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

. She also worked as a fashion photographer, contributing to magazines such as ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. She established a close friendship with the photographer

Lisette Model Lisette Model (born Elise Amelie Felicie Stern; November 10, 1901 – March 30, 1983) was an Austrian-born American photographer primarily known for the frank humanism of her street photography. A prolific photographer in the 1940s and a member ...

Later life

On retirement in 1969, Fleischmann went to

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populat ...

, Switzerland. After a serious fall in 1987, she returned to the United States where she lived with her nephew, the pianist Stefan Carell, in Brewster. She died there on 21 January 1990.

Exhibitions

Trude Fleischmann's work was presented at the

Vienna Museum The Vienna Museum (german: Wien Museum or ''Museen der Stadt Wien'') is a group of museums in Vienna consisting of the museums of the history of the city. In addition to the main building in Karlsplatz and the Hermesvilla, the group includes nu ...

, Vienna, January to May 2011, in an exhibition titled "Trude Fleischmann: Der sebstbewusste Blick".

References

Literature

External links

* Selection of photos by Trude Fleischmann * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischmann, Trude 20th-century Austrian photographers 20th-century American photographers 1895 births 1990 deaths Austrian women photographers American portrait photographers Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss People from Brewster, New York Photographers from Vienna Austrian Jews 20th-century American women photographers Austrian expatriates in France Austrian expatriates in the United Kingdom