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Three original vintage glossy 4 x 5 silver gelatin 'outtake' contact print photographs of Albert Einstein from Philippe Halsman's iconic 1947 photo shoot with the genius, showing him looking left and downward. All bear "Copyright by Philippe Halsman" stamps on the reverse. In overall fine condition.
These are little-seen outtakes from the session that bore one of the most enduring photographs of Einstein: Halsman's portrait of the genius looking directly into the camera has been widely published, used as the image on a 1966 8¢ postage stamp and on the cover of Time Magazine's issue honoring Einstein as 'Person of the Century.'
In his book Philippe Halsman: A Retrospective, the photographer explains the circumstances of the photo shoot: 'I admired Albert Einstein more than anyone I ever photographed, not only as the genius who single-handedly had changed the foundation of modern physics but even more as a rare and idealistic human being.
Personally, I owed him an immense debt of gratitude. After the fall of France, it was through his personal intervention that my name was added to the list of artists and scientists who, in danger of being captured by the Nazis, were given emergency visas to the United States.
After my miraculous rescue I went to Princeton to thank Einstein, and I remember vividly my first impression. Instead of a frail scientist I saw a deep-chested man with a resonant voice and a hearty laugh…The question of how to capture the essence of such a man in a portrait filled me with apprehension. Finally, in 1947, I had the courage to bring on one of my visits my Halsman camera and a few floodlights. After tea, I asked for permission to set up my lights in Einstein's study. The professor sat down and started peacefully working on his mathematical calculations. I took a few pictures. Ordinarily, Einstein did not like photographers, whom he called Lichtaffen (light monkeys). But he cooperated because I was his guest and, after all, he had helped save me.'
From the estate of Margaret Sanders Adams, the daughter of KFC founder Col. Harland Sanders; notably, she received several photographs from Einstein's executor Otto Nathan to use as reference material for her creation of a bust of Einstein.
Sanders documents her longstanding interest in Albert Einstein, her creation of Einstein's bust, her friendship with Otto Nathan, and his delivery of her 'open letter' to Einstein in her memoir, The Colonel's Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter (pp. 186-239), published in 1996.
