From the collection of Karen Biow, the artist's granddaughter Deborah Bell, New York
Catalogue Essay
"The Portrait is your mirror. It’s you." AUGUST SANDER
In this lot we see a visual personifcation of Sander - the romantic philosopher who looked to Goethe for guidance and inspiration, the meticulous workman, the artist: both painter and pillar of photographic history. Sander wears his honest determination on his brow, a man who by this time had undertaken the epic photographic portrait essay, ‘Man of the 20th Century’ which he initially projected as consisting of between 500 and 600 photographs. His steadfast determination to succeed possibly bourn of the fact that he was one of nine siblings and that he had endured a period of time down the mines as a youth, is sofened by a concentrated sensitivity in his eye, as he seems to gaze far ahead of time. Sander portrays himself with a confdence and respect, applying to himself a similar understanding and interest that he does to his sitters, weaving a visceral link between subject and crafsman. In this image it is evident that his time studying painting in Dresden has not left him and has become integral to his existence. During the period this self-portrait was taken, Sander very much integrated with lovers of modern art, artists and intellectuals living in Cologne.
