Fleischmann, Trude (1895–1990)
Fleischmann, Trude (1895–1990)
German-born photographer who specialized in portraits and fashion. Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1895; died in Brewster, New York, in 1990; studied art history in Paris.
Born into a well-to-do Viennese-Jewish family in 1895, Trude Fleischmann took up photography at age nine. After briefly studying art history in Paris, she apprenticed in a Vienna portrait studio before opening her own studio in 1920. Her well-known sitters during this period included actresses Katharine Cornell and Hedy Lamarr , architect Adolf Loos, conductor Bruno Walter, and dancers Tilly Losch , Claire Bauroff , and Grete Wiesenthal. In 1938, after Germany annexed Austria, Fleischmann moved to Paris for six months, then went to London. Two of her students, Marion Post Wolcott and Marion's sister Helen Post Modley , persuaded her to go to the United States. Setting up a studio in New York City around 1940, Fleischmann continued to photograph celebrities, including singer Lotte Lehmann , physicist Albert Einstein, and conductor Arturo Toscanini. The portraits of her early period, soft and brown-tinted, eventually gave way to a more modern, focused style. Fleischmann also did fashion spreads for Vogue and other publications. She retired in 1969, moving to Lugano, Switzerland. In 1990, she died at her nephew's home in Brewster, New York.