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 21st^st 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:          

2007                Gallery 225, NYC

2005                The Icebox Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

2001                Haus der Fotografie, Burghausen, Germany

                        Augustinermuseum, Freiberg, Germany

                        Lee Gallery, Winchester, Massachusetts

                        Argus Fotokunst Gallery, Berlin

                        Zentralinstitut fuer Kunstgeschichte, Munich

Select Group Exhibitions:       

2009                “Funny Fotos”, Zabriskie Gallery, NYC

           Higher Pictures, NYC

2005                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

1997                Museum of the City of New York, NYC

1986                A.I.R. Gallery, NYC

1983                International Center of Photography, NYC

Collections:

                        Museum of the City of New York, NYC

                        New York Public Library, NYC