Very rare 12.75 x 15.75 etching on Japanese paper of the youthful Albert Einstein by Erich Büttner—the very first artistic portrait of the genius to be commissioned in 1917—signed in the lower border in pencil by the subject, "A. Einstein," and artist, "Büttner." In fine condition, with a couple of light creases in the borders.
Erich Büttner (1898–1936) was a renowned painter, graphic artist, and bookplate artist in Berlin in the early 20th century. He studied there from 1906 to 1911 at the teaching institution of the School of Arts and Crafts under Emil Orlik, among others. During World War I, he worked as a cartographer, where he met Eugen Spiro. In 1915, Büttner was the editor of the literary magazine Bimini. He was a member of the Berlin Secession and closely connected to the urban art scene. In 1917, Büttner was commissioned to create a portrait of Albert Einstein—the first portrayal of the genius by a notable artist. He would also create Einstein's ex-libris bookplate.
In 1917, Albert Einstein introduced the cosmological constant into his general theory of relativity to create a static universe, and published his landmark paper, 'Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity.'
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