World War II-dated matte-finish 7.5 x 9.25 photograph of a plaster bust of Albert Einstein by noted American sculptor Eleanor Platt, neatly signed below on the original mount in black ink, “A. Einstein, 1942,” with the photo’s original backing sheet signed in pencil by Platt. Matted and framed to an overall size of 14.5 x 18.75. The consignor notes that this photograph was presented to their mother in 1942, when she was 22 and recovering from a nervous breakdown in Pilgrim State Hospital in Long Island, New York. In support of this claim are ink annotations to the frame backing: “Given to GD by Einstein via Bertchen Reiche, Oma’s best friend, to cheer up GD when she was in Pilgrim State Hospital on Long Island in 1942.”
The backing also bears an affixed printed poem by Albert Einstein, with its English translation annotated to the right in the hand of the recipient; the poem reads: 'Where I go and where I stay / I always see a picture of myself / On the desk, on the wall, around the neck on the black ribbon. / Amazing little men & little women / came to fetch an autograph / everyone must have a scribble / from this highly learned youth / Sometimes I ask myself is all this good fortune / in a clear moment / are you yourself crazy / or are the other idiots?’ In fine condition, with silvering to the perimeter of the image. The California Institute of Technology archives indicate that Platt’s bust of Einstein is on display in Room 114 of the East Bridge lecture hall. Platt also famously made a bronze plaque of Einstein that was minted by the Medallic Art Company of New York in 1969.
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