Eduard and Bertha Wehnert
1845-1849
Untitled (Portrait of a Lady)

Daguerreotype
Lempertz - Cologne
Auction 1189 - Photography, 3 December 2021, Lot: 500
 
Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann has gone down in the history of photography as Europe's first female professional photographer, and is classed today as an undisputed pioneer in this field. Born in 1815 in Cottbus, she initially trained as a bobbin lace maker before familiarising herself with the daguerreotype process from 1840, only one year after its introduction. Following positions as a daguerreotypist in Dresden, Cottbus, and various small town in Thuringia, she settled permanently in Leipzig in 1844 where she worked in the studio of Eduard Wehnert. Their marriage in 1845 did not last long, however, as Wehnert died prematurely in the summer of 1847, whereupon the emancipated and capable businesswoman successfully continued to run the studio for almost four decades, until 1882. Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann's excellent reputation enabled her to assert herself as a woman in a technical profession against the male competition and provided her with numerous commissions from Leipzig's high society. Personalities from the aristocracy, military and notable bourgeoisie were portrayed by her, and her most prominent clients in the 1840s included the young Johannes Brahms and the landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné. She resided in New York from 1849 to 1851 where she ran a studio not far from Broadway and counted Samuel Houston and Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth US President, amongst others, as clients.
 
Probably due to her gender, the Leipzig press recommended its female clientele in particular to her, and so numerous portraits of women and children were produced. It therefore seems likely that the present work can be attributed to Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann. The lady portrayed has not been identified, but the mount with ornamental gold decoration and printed wording “Eduard Wehnert u. Bertha Wehnert fec.”, (even after the death of her husband she initially retained this appellation), suggests a dating between 1845 and 1849. Whilst daguerreotypes by Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann can be found in various museums and private collections, this is the first time a work of this kind has been offered on the international auction market.
 
Literature
Jochen Voigt/Christoph Kaufmann (ed.), Der gefrorene Augenblick. Daguerreotypie in Sachsen 1839-1860. Inkunabeln in sächsischen Sammlungen, Chemnitz 2004; Jochen Voigt, A German Lady. Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann. Leben & Werk einer Fotografiepionierin, Chemnitz 2014; Volker Rodekamp (ed.), Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann 1815 - 1901. Die Fotografin, exhib.cat. Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig, Leipzig 2015
 
LL/115964