"Harald Kreutzberg"

gelatin silver print

titled (pencil) and artist stamps on verso

Hans Robertson was a German photographer known for his work in portrait, dance and fashion photography. Around 1927, Robertson took over Lili Baruch's studio on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, which specialized in theater and dance photography. Robertson became one of the city's most renowned portraitists, especially of writers, artists and politicians such as Käthe Kollwitz, Heinrich Mann and Gustav Stresemann. He became particularly well known for his photographs of modern dancers such as Harald Kreutzberg, Vera Skoronel and Mary Wigman, as well as the boxer Max Schmeling.¹
Due to his Jewish origins, he was forced to leave Germany when the National Socialists seized power and fled to Denmark and Sweden. In June 1933, he handed over his studio, including the negatives, to his former employee Siegfried Enkelmann.
The picture shows the German dancer and choreographer Harald Kreutzberg. He was one of the most important representatives of expressive dance in Germany from the 1920s to the 1940s. Kreutzberg continued his artistic career without interruption during the Nazi era. Completely apolitical himself, Kreutzberg allowed himself to be used by the National Socialists as a figurehead for German cultural life and remained one of the most revered and well-paid dancers during this period.²
(Christoph Fuchs, translated with deepL)

Notes

1
Wikipedia, https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Robertson (retrieved 31.1.2025)

2
Annette von Wangenheim, Tanz unterm Hakenkreuz, documentation, Germany 2003, 60 min. http://www.annettevonwangenheim.de/film07.htm (retrieved 31.1.2025)