View from Arc de Triomphe
Photograph
View from Arc de Triomphe
Blick vom Arc de Triomphe
1951
Gelatin silver print
39.9 x 28.0 cm.
Museum accession
1966.0079.0003
Inscriptions verso (pencil, on label): S.F. 19 / View Arc de Triomphe / Dr. Steinert Keplerstrasse 3 Saarbrücken
TextPhysician turned photographer Otto Steinert breathed new life into postwar West German art through his boldly subjective approach to photography and tireless promotion of the medium’s creative possibilities. View from Arc de Triomphe is one of the photographer’s most famous photographs. Concerned with inner perception rather than with concrete, external realities, this photograph reveals no hint of the iconic monument itself. Instead, it dwells on Steinert’s personal observation of cars whizzing by its famous roundabout below, their blurred forms converging to create an extraordinarily dynamic and lively composition.
