4190 - Kesting, Edmund

Kesting, Edmund Portrait of the art dealer Ludwig Wilhelm Gutbier (1873–1951). 1934. Vintage large-format gelatin silver print (double exposure). 40.5 x 29 cm. Signed and annotated “Foto-Komposition” by the photographer in ink in the lower margin; photographer’s copyright stamp and additional annotations in ink and pencil on the reverse. Hinge-mounted in a mat. In 1893, Ludwig Wilhelm Gutbier succeeded his father, Adolf Ludwig Gutbier, as director of the Ernst Arnold Gallery in Dresden, which became one of Germany’s leading galleries for modern art in the early 20th century. He organized a major exhibition of Impressionist art in 1899 and a presentation of works by artists of the Brücke group in 1910. Under his leadership, the Ernst Arnold publishing house was established in 1919, alongside a collection of graphic art. Following the gallery’s closure due to financial difficulties in 1934, Gutbier reopened it in Munich in 1937, establishing business relationships with leading figures of the Nazi regime. The gallery was destroyed in 1944, and after the war, the American occupying forces confiscated his property and prohibited him from conducting business. – Slight silvering in shadowed areas toward the bottom, a few small retouched spots, pinholes in the corners of the margins, slightly buckled along the top edge; otherwise in very good condition.