Erika Stone (American, b. Frankfurt, Germany, 1924)
By the Seine, Paris, France, 1952
Vintage gelatin silver print, printed no later than 1955
Signed on mount verso, "Erika 48th St." stamp also on mount verso
15 1/4 x 19 1/8 inches; flush-mounted
Illustrated:
Erika Stone: Mostly People, Keyahoff, 2001, p. 73; The Photo League at 75, Stephen Daiter Gallery, p. 101
Condition: Overall excellent; some slight indentations on surface, visible only in raking light; some very slight edge chipping typical of a flush-mounted print of this era; oxidation occurring on edges
ES-FR-085-V02
Retail: $3500-$4500
PHENOMENAL OVERSIZED MOUNTED VINTAGE PRINT!
A modern 11 x 14-inch print of this image is also available. Please feel free to inquire.
Erika Stone was one of the youngest members of the Photo League and was represented by Howard Greenberg Gallery, NY where retail prices for modern prints started at $3500.
BIO:
(b. Erika Klopfer; Frankfurt, Germany; 1924)
Erika Stone began taking pictures at age ten in Munich, Germany, with a simple Brownie camera. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1936 as the Nazi regime was taking power, and soon after, her father gave her his Voigtlander Superb, a twin-lens reflex camera. At sixteen, money for film and other photo supplies was necessary, so Erika started a small after-school business photographing neighborhood children and offering to sell the pictures to their parents.
Erika’s parents needed her help financially, so she could not continue her studies after high school where she had majored in art. Photographer Fritz Henle, a family friend, arranged a job for Erika at the professional lab, Leco. Although she was originally hired as a “go-fer”, she learned darkroom skills under the tutelage of her boss, Leo Cohn, also a German immigrant. At Leco she was introduced to well-known photographers of that period: Robert & Cornell Capa, Chim, Halsman and others.
Shortly after her training, The Riverdale Press hired her as a stringer and her early success soon demanded a darkroom beyond her temporary bathroom set-up. Erika discovered the New York Photo League, located at that time on 21stst Street, and was drawn in by the talent and philosophy of some of its members such as Weegee, Paul Strand, Berenice Abbott, Sid Grossman and Walter Rosenblum.
The basis of the Photo League was their idea of using the camera as a medium to instigate social reform as well as a means of documenting life; and it soon became her goal as well. Though primarily self-taught, Erika studied at the New School of Social Research with Berenice Abbott and later with George Tice.
From 1947 until 1953, Erika worked for the European Picture Service and became a stringer for Time and Der Spiegel, both weekly news magazines. She has covered the Tanglewood Music Festival since 1947, capturing such greats as Leonard Bernstein, Pablo Casals, Aaron Copland, Isaac Stern, among others.
From 1953 until 1959, Erika and her partner Anita Beer managed their own picture agency: “Photo Representatives” which handled the work of a number of prominent photographers including Weegee and Horace Bristol. In 1954, Erika married William Stone, a writer and advertising executive. Shortly after her first son was born, Erika gave up the picture agency to focus on her family. With her second son on the way and the camera ever-ready, she captured family moments, developed them into story ideas and sold them again and again to magazines around the world. Erika became well known for her photographs of children and family situations and published several books both on and about children.
“Photography has indeed filled my life. It has filled it with endless visual excitement as well as the challenge and satisfaction of getting moments, which have tickled my vision on film. Many subjects inspire me but none as much as capturing a special second in the life of man, woman or child. People are my favorite subjects and I continue to marvel at the diversity and uniqueness of each individual. They give life its fullness, its richness. Their sorrows fill me with compassion and their joys move me deeply. To me, people are what the world is all about. That is why my camera will always seek them out.” --Erika Stone
Education:
Apprenticed with Fritz Henle
City College of New York, NYC
New School with Berenice Abbott & George Tice, NYC
Member of the New York Photo League, NYC
Select Solo Exhibitions:
2009 Farmani Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2007 Gallery 225, NYC
2005 The Icebox Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2004 National Arts Club, NYC & Soho Photo Gallery, NYC2001 Haus der Fotografie, Burghausen, Germany
Augustinermuseum, Freiberg, Germany
Lee Gallery, Winchester, Massachusetts
Argus Fotokunst Gallery, Berlin
Zentralinstitut fuer Kunstgeschichte, Munich
Select Group Exhibitions:
2010 “Thirty Years of Photography at the New York Public Library”, New York Public Library, NYC
2009 “Funny Fotos”, Zabriskie Gallery, NYC
“Women of the Photo League”, Higher Pictures, NYCHigher Pictures, NYC
New York Public Library, NYC2005 Apex Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001 Museum of the City of New York, NYC
2000 The National Arts Club, NYC
1999 The Center of Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
The National Arts Club, NYC
1998 Light Factory: “Women of the Photo League”, Charlotte, NC1997 Museum of the City of New York, NYC
1986 A.I.R. Gallery, NYC
1983 International Center of Photography, NYC
Collections:
The Center of Creative Photography, Tucson
Museum of the City of New York, NYC
New York Historical Society, NYCNew York Public Library, NYC