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6

Helmar Lerski (i.e. Schmuklerski, Israel)

Strasbourg 1871 – 1956 Zurich

Metamorphosis through Light, Tel-Aviv. 1935–1936

24 Vintages. Bromide-silver gelatine contact prints from the original glass plate negatives. Each approx. 29 × 23 cm (11 ⅜ × 9 in.).
This picture shows the following artwork: Helmar Lerski (i.e. Schmuklerski, Israel). Metamorphosis through Light, Tel-Aviv. 1935–1936.

Estimate:

EUR 25,000

 

- 30,000

USD 29,400

 

- 35,300

Sold for:

109,650 EUR (incl. premium)

Summer Auctions 2026

Selected Works, Thursday, 04.06.2026

Information

24 Vintages. Bromide-silver gelatine contact prints from the original glass plate negatives. Each approx. 29 × 23 cm (11 ⅜ × 9 in.). 4 photographs signed in the bottom right corner in graphite pencil, 1 photograph signed in the bottom right corner in black ink, 1 photograph signed in the bottom right corner in white ink, and 1 photograph signed in the bottom left corner in white ink: “LERSKI”. 3 photographs with the photographer’s copyright stamp on the reverse: “REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED / COPYRIGHT BY HELMAR LERSKI / TEL-AVIV BEN ZAKAI STR. 8”. Each bearing the Helmar Lerski serial number in pencil on the reverse. Two photographs with the annotation: "Verwandlungen" in pencil on the reverse, a further photograph with: "Lerski 'Verwandlungen' / ‘2. Wahl’" in blue ballpoint pen. 1 photograph with a layout mark, 14 photographs inscribed or numbered in pencil, and 5 photographs marked with an ‘X’ in blue ink or pencil on the reverse. 2 photographs with a red number stamp on the reverse: "II 79".

Estate of the artist, Zurich / Rudolf Kicken Gallery, Cologne (14 photographs of the convolute) / Barry Friedman Gallery, New York, and Mayer & Mayer Gallery, Düsseldorf (5 photographs and 2 photographs, acquired from Kicken in 1989/90 and 1992 respectively) / Private Collection, Brandenburg

Ute Eskildsen (Ed.): Helmar Lerski. Verwandlungen durch Licht. Freren 1982, unpaginated (510, 558, 563, 574, 580, 581, 589, 590, 594, 597, 598, 599, 608) / Exh.cat.: Helmar Lerski. Lichtbildner. Fotografien und Filme 1910-1947. Essen; Museum Folkwang; Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum; München, Fotomuseum im Stadtmuseum; Frankfurt, Kunstverein, and San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art, 1982/84, title (555), p. 106 (520), p. 110 (555) / Florian Ebner: Metamorphosen des Gesichts. Die ,Verwandlungen durch Licht‘ von Helmar Lerski. Göttingen, Steidl, 2002, p. 20 (510, 517), p. 24 (546, 550), p. 25 (554, 555, 558), p. 26 (563, 567, 568, 571), p. 27 (574, 580), p. 28 (581, 589), p. 29 (590, 594, 597, 598), p. 30 (599), p. 31 (608), p. 36 (581) / Annette and Rudolf Kicken (Hg.): Exposures 2. Cahier 5. Berlin 2012, p. 34 (517) and p. 35 (594) / Exh.cat.: Object: Photo. Modern Photographs. The Thomas Walther Collection 1909-1949. New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 2014/15, p. 259, Cat.-No. 163 (599) / Exh.cat.: Helmar Lerski. Pionnier de la lumière. Paris, Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme, 2018, p. 95 (510) / Exh.cat.: Faces - die Macht des Gesichts. Helmar Lerski und die Porträtfotografie der Zwischenkriegszeit. Wien, Albertina, 2021, p. 9 (599), p. 78 (550)

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