Remarkable vintage matte-finish 9 x 7 portrait of Einstein dressed in a hat and long coat on a deserted beach in Santa Barbara, California, displayed in its 10.25 x 8.75 mat, signed and inscribed on the mat in fountain pen, "To Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Doheny, Albert Einstein, 19.II.33.” Also signed in the lower right in pencil by the photographer, "Carl Obert, S. Barbara." Handsomely matted and framed to an overall size of 16.75 x 15.75. In fine condition, with a short tear to the top of the original mat.
This is a stunning portrait of Einstein, capturing the genius in a plaintive pose during a 1931 visit to Santa Barbara, where he and his wife Elsa were hosted by Dr. Ludwig Kast. The artist, German-born Carl Obert, was a preeminent photographer of California's south coast from the 1930s into the 1960s. It is a brilliant image, capturing Einstein's position as a singular figure in the history of the 20th century, and his enduring influence in popular culture—it evokes both the important 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass, and the 1994 hit single 'Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)' by Counting Crows.
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