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
Henrichshütte Hattingen, Hattingen, Germany
Foyer ThyssenKrupp Steel, Duisburg, Germany
Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy
Chiostri di San Domenico, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Magnum Gallery St Germain, Paris, France
Certosa Di San Giacomo, Capri, Italy
Forma Galleria, Milan, Italy
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Westlicht, Vienna, Austria
Spazio Metropol, Milan, Italy
Musei dei Capitolini, Rome, Italy
Außereuropäische Kunst Dierking, Cologne, Germany
Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg, Germany
Museum Sankt Ingbert, Sankt Ingbert, Germany
Haus der Fotografie, Hamburg, 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
Biblioteca Nazionale, Torino, Italy
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Italienisches Kultur-Institut, Cologne, Germany
Galleria Costa, Genova, Italy
Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Galleria Photology, Milan, Italy
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
PPS Gallery F.C.Gundlach, Hamburg, Germany
Fotografie-Forum, Frankfurt, Germany
Pace MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Olympus Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL, USA
Galleria Rondini, Rome, Italy
Musée d‘Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Galerie Octant, Paris, France
International Center of Photography, New York, NY, USA
Photographers Gallery, London, Great Britain
Galleria Il Diaframma, Milan, Italy
Palazzo Odeschalchi, Rome, Italy
CCD Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
Die Neue Sammlung, Munich, Germany
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Städtische Galerie Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany
Galleria dell’Obelisco, Rome, Italy
Amerika Haus, Munich, Germany
Galerie Karl Buchholz, Berlin, Germany
Parnassos Galerie, Athens, Greece
Galerie du Chasseur d’Images, Paris, France
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
Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampas, FL, USA
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
Benaki Museum – Pireos St Annexe, Athens, Greece
Musée Würth, Erstein, France
Städtische Galerie Neunkirchen, Germany
The Athens House of Photography, Athens, Greece
Forum für Fotografie, Cologne, Germany
Museum Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
Museum Kunst & Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
LACMA – Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
Museo d’Arte Moderna, Lugano, Switzerland
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren, Kaufbeuren, Germany
Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany
Art Center Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster, Germany
Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Germany
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia
Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Fotografie Forum International, Frankfurt, Germany
The Brno House of Art, Brno, Czech Republic
Palais für aktuelle Kunst, Glückstadt, Germany
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Deutschland
Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, Germany; Kunsthalle Krems, Austria; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Goethe-Institut und Museum für Photographie, Thessaloniki, Grreece
Photographic Centre of Skopelos, Greece
Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany; Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Germany
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Sala Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain ; Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria
Paris, France; Barcelona, Spain; London, Great Britain; Tokyo, Japan; Milan, Italy; Frankfurt, Germany; Hamburg, Germany
Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy
Palazzo dell’Automobile, Turin, Italy
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Photomuseum Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Agfa Foto-Historama, Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne, Germany
Galleria Gottardo, Lugano, Switzerland
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA; Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, Germany
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
Tiroler Landesmuseum, Innsbruck, Austria; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Kunstmuseum Kassel, Kassel, Germany
New Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH, USA
Galleria Levante, Munich, Germany
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
World Exhibition of Photography, Hamburg, Germany
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
Saarbrücken, Germany
Lucerne, Switzerland
Staatliche Schule für Kunst und Handwerk, Saarbücken, Germany
Musée des Arts décoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France