Born into a prosperous merchant family in Hamburg, Germany, Herbert List began an apprenticeship at a Heidelberg coffee dealer in 1921 whilst studying literature and art history at Heidelberg University. Between the two world wars, List immersed himself in the cosmopolitan culture of 1920s Germany, where Bauhaus, expressionism and Max Reinhardt’s theatre coexisted. In 1930, he met Andreas Feininger, Bauhaus master, who introduced him to the art of photography and the Rolleiflex camera. The rise of the Third Reich stifled List’s daily life, as Jews and homosexuals were the first targets of the regime, forcing the artist to flee Germany in 1936. In 1937, List divided his time between Paris and London, where he met Jean Cocteau and the photographer George Hoyningen-Huene respectively. He tried his hand at fashion photography, without great enthusiasm, and had his photographs published in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and Life among others. List preferred to focus on impeccably constructed still lifes, a style later referred to as fotografia metafisica, of which he became the most important representative. Leaving the restrictions of a fascist Germany behind, List’s work could be more playful and intimate. Mediterranean life on the coasts and ancient sites of Greece and Italy were List’s main
source of inspiration from 1937 to 1939, making these years his most fruitful. His first solo show opened in Paris in the summer of 1937. List began producing portraits of European and American artists set mostly in Paris and in Italy, among the most iconic were those of Pablo Picasso, Giorgio Morandi, and Pier Paolo Paolini. His style changed in the postwar years when his interest shifted from formal aspects to the human being. In 1951, Herbert List met Robert Capa, who convinced him to work as a contributor to Magnum. Spending time in Italy, his genre covered street photography, photo essays and portraiture. In 1953, he discovered the 35 mm camera. His work became more spontaneous, influenced by his Magnum colleague Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Italian Neo Realism film movement. Travels to Spain, Mexico, Morocco and the Caribbean followed. The postwar economy finally allowed List to complete several book projects that had been on hold, amongst these were Licht Ueber Hellas (1953), Rome (1955), and Napoli (1962), the latter in collaboration with film director Vittorio de Sica. From 1962, Herbert List set photography aside and dedicated his time to collecting the drawings of Italian Masters. He died in Munich on April 4, 1975.
Exhibitions
Publications
Biography
Born in Hamburg, Germany
Apprenticeship at a coffee importer in Heidelberg, Germany
Studies of literature and art history at the University of Heidelberg, Germany
Joined the family coffee business
First photographs taken during trips to coffee plantations in Latin America
and visits to San Francisco, CA, USA
Taking over the family business
Friendship with the photographer Andreas Feininger as a trigger for artistic photography
First compositions inspired by Giorgio de Chirico and Man Ray
Move to Paris, France and London, Great Britain
Decision to commit oneself completely to photography
First commissioned work mainly in the fashion industry
Relocation to Athens, Greece
Book project Licht über Hellas
First solo exhibition at Galerie Chasseur d'images in Paris, France
Return to Germany after the invasion of German troops in Greece
Soldier of the Wehrmacht in Norway
New start in Munich, Germany
Creation of the photographic series „Memento 1945“ – Münchner Kriegsruinen
Art director of the newspaper Heute
Numerous trips to Italy, Greece, Jamaica and Mexico, among others
Spontaneous image finding by approaching the Leica 35mm camera
Book project Napoli with the Italian filmmaker Vittorio de Sica
Died in Munich, Germany
Works
Exhibitions
Photokunst Johanna Breede, Berlin, Germany
Ludwig Galerie, Saarlouis, Germany
Kunst- und Kulturzentrum KUK, Monschau, Germany
Contrasto Galeria, Milan, Italy
Magnum Print Room, London, United Kingdom
Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy
Henrichshütte Hattingen, Hattingen, Germany
Foyer ThyssenKrupp Steel, Duisburg, Germany
Chiostri di San Domenico, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Magnum Gallery St Germain, Paris, France
Certosa Di San Giacomo, Capri, Italy
Forma Galleria, Milan, Italy
Westlicht, Vienna, Austria
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Spazio Metropol, Milan, Italy
Musei dei Capitolini, Rome, Italy
Außereuropäische Kunst Dierking, Cologne, Germany
Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Haus der Fotografie, Hamburg, Germany
Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg, Germany
Museum Sankt Ingbert, Sankt Ingbert, Germany
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada; Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece; Museo di Storia della Fotografia Alinari, Florence, Italy; IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzales, Valencia, Spain; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany; Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, USA; Cultural Center, Chicago, IL, USA; Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany;Hotel de Sully, Paris, France;Museum für angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany; Fundacion « La Caixa », Barcelona, Spain
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Italienisches Kultur-Institut, Cologne, Germany
Biblioteca Nazionale, Torino, Italy
Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Galleria Costa, Genova, Italy
Galleria Photology, Milan, Italy
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Palazzo Ruccellai, Florence, Italy
Goethe Institut, Rome and Naples, Italy
Palazzo Bagatti-Valsecchi, Milan, Italy
Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne, Germany
Glyptothek, Munich, Germany
Musée National Des Monuments Francais, Paris, France
Galerie Anita Neugebauer, Basel, Switzerland
PPS Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Zur Stockeregg, Zurich, Switzerland
Fahey-Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Photographic Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Fotografie-Forum, Frankfurt, Germany
PPS Gallery F.C.Gundlach, Hamburg, Germany
Olympus Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Pace MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA
CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia, Torino, Italy
Fundación Canal, Madrid, Spain
Museum für Fotografie, Berlin, Germany
Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, Berlin, Germany
IVAM – Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy
LVR LandesMuseum, Bonn, Germany
Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
Hôtel de Ville, Paris, France
The Pushkin State Museum, Moscow, Russia
Lindenau-Museum Altenburg, Germany
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
Benaki Museum – Pireos St Annexe, Athens, Greece
Musée Würth, Erstein, France