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Achim's Pics

From 16th century selfies to heaven's paradise on earth, our Business Development Manager for Berlin reveals his top pics and clips in the archive 

1.  What is your role at Bridgeman?

I am the Berlin office's version of Tintin the roving reporter (credit to Ute Krebs for the expression) and spend my time meeting clients and seeing to their needs. I am also constantly trying to create new needs, to inspire them with what we have and to enthuse them about what they do themselves. If I do not meet with the clients, I keep calling them and send emails with ideas, always with the aim to make them think of us first in their creative process.

 

2.  What do you love most about the job?

It is an ideal combination of art, creativity and all different people from all kinds of industries which make each day exciting. Every client is different and brings with him or her different ideas. I love tailoring solutions which fit them and helping them by thinking outside their daily routines. Working on thrilling projects and seeing them come true is as exciting as dealing quickly and efficiently with precise requests.

 

3. What misconceptions do clients most commonly have about the archive?

It is the same old story again and again: having this tremendous reputation as the finest source of Art (with an A); photography, footage and material on other subjects is still a surprise to quite a few clients. And while it always is a good to be surprising from an entertainment point of view, it is by constant reminders such as e-shots that we wear away those misconceptions and make sure that clients consider us first when their project goes beyond "just" Art.

 

Achim Kathan, Business Development Manager
Achim Kathan, Business Development Manager

 

 

Self Portrait at the Age of Twenty-Eight, 1500, Albrecht Dürer / Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany / Bridgeman Images
Self Portrait at the Age of Twenty-Eight, 1500, Albrecht Dürer / Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany / Bridgeman Images

 

 

 

 

Albrecht Dürer

When it comes to iconic art, Dürer's self-portrait is like the German Mona Lisa and certainly an outstanding 16th century version of a selfie. The original painting is on display in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and having grown up in Munich, I was lucky enough to see it quite often.

From a technical point of view it is extraordinary. But there is more: Dürer's attitude is striking: distant, composed and very poised. Quite unusual for an artist who, in his time, was not exactly part of society's upper crust. Hence the message is timeless: be good at what you do and be sure of it.

 

 

 

The Glyptothek

Another Munich reference: The Glyptothek, my favourite Munich museum, is situated on my favourite Munich square: the Königsplatz. Klenze's classical building houses antique statues and its architecture unites with the sculptures inside.

The "Hall of the Faun" is the core of the collection and the Barberini faun is quietly sleeping under the dome, ignoring visitors and passersby. Yet, he is so true-to-life that the marble appears to breathe and I am sure that he leads quite a life of his own at night before going back to sleep just seconds before the museum opens its doors.

 

Interior of the Glyptothek, 1987 (see also 121587) / Staatliche Antikensammlung und Glyptothek, Munich, Germany / Wolfgang Neeb / Bridgeman Images
Interior of the Glyptothek, 1987 (see also 121587) / Staatliche Antikensammlung und Glyptothek, Munich, Germany / Wolfgang Neeb / Bridgeman Images

 

 

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, 1586, El Greco (Domenico Theotocopuli) / Santo Tome, Toledo, Spain / Bridgeman Images
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, 1586, El Greco (Domenico Theotocopuli) / Santo Tome, Toledo, Spain / Bridgeman Images

 

El Greco

El Greco has always been one of my favourite painters. Initially trained as a post-byzantine icon painter, he left his native Crete, crossed Italy and settled down in Spain where he combined Byzantine tradition and Western Renaissance painting to a highly individual and unparalleled style beyond conventional schools.

Peerless pigmentation, expressive faces and elongated figures, almost chiaroscuro before its time, a rather flat perspective - in all aspects El Greco was ahead of his time. His art traces a path from 16th century Renaissance to 20th century Expressionism. This burial is sheer drama and I never get tired of looking at the faces, textiles, swirls and dynamics in this painting

 

 

National Geographic

What a great collection to have in the archive! This autochrome photograph of the Alhambra features a place very dear to my heart: the Generalife, an intimate garden set up to reflect heaven's paradise on earth. It truly is: a perfect combination of shadow and light, Moorish decoration and reflecting pools, nature and architecture from a world where Moors, Jews and Christians lived together in a peaceful and rewarding symbiosis.

Well, the symbiosis is quite gone and this earthly paradise today is most often shared with roistering tour guides, not-very-keen-on-culture children, sweaty and exhausted fellow men and women as well as the constant noise of smartphones taking either pictures or calls.

In this image, however, everything is as it as was meant to be and it always draws me into this time gone by.

 

View of a columned palace courtyard in the Palace of the Generalife, Grenada, Spain, 1924 (autochrome), Jules Gervais-Courtellemont / National Geographic Creative / Bridgeman Images
View of a columned palace courtyard in the Palace of the Generalife, Grenada, Spain, 1924 (autochrome), Jules Gervais-Courtellemont / National Geographic Creative / Bridgeman Images

 

 

'Rugby - Costume tailleur de Redfern', plate 39 from 'Gazette du Bon Ton', Volume I, no.4, April 1914 (pochoir print), Georges Barbier / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Transferred from the William Morris Hunt Memorial Libra
'Rugby - Costume tailleur de Redfern', plate 39 from 'Gazette du Bon Ton', Volume I, no.4, April 1914 (pochoir print), Georges Barbier / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Transferred from the William Morris Hunt Memorial Libra

 

 

 

Fashion Stencils

In the early 20th century "La Gazette du Bon Ton" and "Art - Goût - Beauté" were high end fashion and lifestyle magazines, really the forerunners of Vogue or Harper's Bazaar.

Photography existed only in black and white which is why these publications used some of the most sophisticated, costly but also one of the oldest printing techniques ever: stenciling.

Multiple layers of stencils are used on the same surface to produce multi-colored images, pure pigments of all colourings, even bronze, silver and gold without any visible grid pattern.

Fashionable artists and designers of the time featured the latest of Paris couture in settings similar to today's fashion photography: travels, sports, social life. After all, true style never gets out of fashion.

 

 

 

Love

To me, this is one of the strongest photos which we hold in the archive. And it sends a powerful message in so many ways: love is stronger than war. Love is equal to all and so is courage. This is one of the few images which speaks so loudly and clearly for itself that no further words are needed.

 

Arcade photo of two U.S. Navy Crows kissing, c.1940 / Kinsey Institute, United States. / Prismatic Pictures / Bridgeman Images
Arcade photo of two U.S. Navy Crows kissing, c.1940 / Kinsey Institute, United States. / Prismatic Pictures / Bridgeman Images

 

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