Die Tänzerin Bertl Komauer

Johann Sebastian Bach, Präludium b-moll (wohltemperiertes Klavier, I. Teil)

gelatin silver print mounted on cardboard

signed (pencil) on mount recto, artist's stamp and annotated (ink) on mount verso

Franz Löwy was an Austrian studio and social photographer who was active from around 1900 to 1938. He operated studios in Jägerndorf (now Krnov, CZ), Vienna, Paris, and Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary, CZ).
Löwy specialized in portrait photography and gained great renown, particularly in Vienna during the interwar period. In addition to portraits, he also took photographs of theater, dance, fashion, and nudes. His work was published in illustrated newspapers and trade journals.
After the annexation of Austria in 1938, Löwy emigrated via Paris to Brazil, where he continued his work as a photographer in Rio de Janeiro. After his flight, his studio in Vienna was confiscated by the Nazi authorities, and his remaining property was sold.
Pictured here is the Austrian dancer and gymnastics teacher Bertl Komauer. She was active in Vienna during the 1920s and 1930s and directed the Bertl Komauer School for Gymnastics and Rhythmics in Vienna.
Komauer collaborated with renowned photographers of her time, including Franz Löwy and Anton Josef Trčka. Komauer dances expressively to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in B-flat minor (BWV 867) from The Well-Tempered Clavier, as noted on the reverse. Bach’s music possesses a profound expressiveness due to its structure and emotional depth. The connection between Bach’s compositions and dance has developed historically, as many of his pieces are based on Baroque dance forms.
(Christoph Fuchs, translated with DeepL)