Albert STEINER
The photographer Albert Steiner (short: A. Steiner, but also called Albert Steiner-Hirsbrunner) is the best-known Swiss landscape photographer of the 20th century, i.e. the number one Swiss photographer and one of the first art photographers in Switzerland.
A. Steiner made the Engadine (especially motifs from the Upper Engadine: St. Moritz, Sils Maria, Pontresina, Maloja, Lake Silvaplana (Silvaplanersee), Lake Silser See, Piz da la Margna, Bernina Group and many more) known to the world through the numerous postcard motifs that went back to Albert Steiner’s photographic work. It is not for nothing that “Albert Steiner” is also called “The Eye of the Engadine”. There are also several publications of Albert Steiner’s photographic work.
A. Steiner was already very enterprising during his lifetime. His Engadine landscape photographs are among the most reproduced of the time. In addition to the many different postcard motifs published by his own “Verlag Albert Steiner, St. Moritz”, his own photographs were also printed and sold in signed passepartouts, which were framed. In addition, his photographs can be found on posters, in brochures, in newspapers and magazines as well as in numerous books.
Certain of his photographs stand out because of the atmosphere they capture, such as Albert Steiner’s , the Foto “Summer Day on Lake Silvaplana, Upper Engadine” or the photo “View to Bellavista (Bernina Group)”.
A. Steiner is also known for his professional architectural photographs, for example of the Graubünden Cantonal Hospital in Chur.
Short biography
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1877 1897 ■ works for the photographer Fred Boissonnas, Geneva 1904 |
1905 1906 ab 1909 1965 |
Art photographer A. Steiner
Albert Steiner’s importance as an art photographer can be seen, for example, in his photo compositions, in which he was inspired by the parallelism of the painter Ferdinand Hodler. The landscape paintings of the Grisons painter Giovanni Segantini, who was committed to symbolism, also served A. Steiner as a source of inspiration for his photographs. Just like the pictures of Giovanni Giacometti.
Steiner saw himself as an artist. For him, photography was an independent means of artistic development. The Engadin had been discovered by Steiner when he worked with the photographer Walther Küpfer in St. Moritz. [1]
His motifs included numerous landscape shots, from snow-covered mountain landscapes and flowering meadows to plays of light in the cloudy sky with mystical rays of sunlight over the Upper Engadine lake landscape. But Steiner also portrayed shepherds and farmers he met on his hikes through the high alpine valleys of the Upper Engadine.
When Steiner presents snow-covered trees, groups of trees or flowers, his photographic style is reminiscent of that of the “Neue Sachlichkeit” (New Objectivity). Many of his photos convey the image of untouched nature when there are no signs of human civilisation on them. It helped him that Grisons is the most sparsely populated canton in Switzerland, which is particularly due to the fact that the high alpine valleys and mountains are difficult to control by man.
Albert Steiner has certainly played a part in Switzerland being perceived as an Alpine paradise. [2]
Publications
There are numerous publications in which photographs of Albert Steiner can be found. Here is a selection:
- Engadin Landscapes: Engadiner Landschaften, Zürich 1927.
- Snow, Winter, Sun: Schnee, Winter, Sonne, Erlenbach bei Zürich 1930.
- Engadin. Winter – Hiver, Phot. Wehrliverlag Kilchberg und A. Steiner, St. Moritz, 1931.
- The Four Seasons: Gottardo Segantini/Albert Steiner: Die vier Jahreszeiten, Erlenbach bei Zürich 1938.
- You great silent glow: «Du grosses stilles Leuchten» : Albert Steiner (1877 – 1965) und die Bündner Landschaftsphotographie, Photographien aus der Sammlung Herzog, Basel, Zürich 1992.
- Albert Steiner, The Photographic Work: Albert Steiner, Das fotografische Werk, Ausstellungskatalog “Über Tälern und Menschen, Albert Steiner”, Chur 2005.
- Architectural Photography of the Cantonal Hospital Graubünden: Albert Steiner – Ralph Feiner: Architekturfotografie des Kantonsspitals Graubünden 1941 / 2020, Zürich 2021.
Snow, Winter, Sun
The book Schnee, Winter, Sonne. 48 Aufnahmen von Albert Steiner (“Snow, Winter, Sun. 48 Photographs by Albert Steiner”) is a book from 1930 with 48 black-and-white photographs by the photographer A. Steiner. The book was published by Rotapfel-Verlag (Erlenbach near Zurich). The text was written by Felix Moeschlin. “Snow, Winter, Sun” is also called the first modern photo album about Switzerland. [3]
The Four Seasons. In word and image
The book Die vier Jahreszeiten, In Wort und Bild (“The Four Seasons. In word and image”) was published by Rotapfel-Verlag (Erlenbach near Zurich) in 1938. 61 nature photographs by Albert Steiner are reproduced in this book.
You great silent glow
The book Du grosses stilles Leuchten (“You great silent glow”) is an exhibition catalogue for the 1992 exhibition of the same name at the Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur. The exhibition was about Albert Steiner and Graubünden landscape photography in general, with the photographs coming from the Herzog Collection.
Albert Steiner, The Photographic Work
The book Albert Steiner, Das Fotografische Werk is a catalogue of the exhibition in Chur 2005/2006 and Winterthur 2007. The German-language catalogue was published by Bentelli-Verlag, while the English-language edition “Albert Steiner, The Photographic Work” was published by Steidl-Verlag.
Architectural Photography of the Cantonal Hospital Graubünden
The book Albert Steiner – Ralph Feiner: Architekturfotografie des Kantonsspitals Graubünden 1941 / 2020 (“Albert Steiner – Ralph Feiner: Architectural Photography of the Cantonal Hospital Graubünden 1941 / 2020”) shows the architectural photographs that Albert Steiner took of the Cantonal Hospital Graubünden in 1941 and those photographs that Ralph Feiner took of the new hospital building in 2020.
Photos of Albert Steiner on the Internet
In addition, many photos of Albert Steiner can be found on the websites of collections and databases, such as the following websites:
Sources
[1] Collection Pictet: Albert Steiner (last retrieved: 21.9.2023)
[2] Collection Pictet: Albert Steiner (last retrieved: 21.9.2023)
[3] Collection Pictet: Albert Steiner (last retrieved: 21.9.2023)
Works by Albert Steiner
Below you will find works by Albert Steiner and prints of A. Steiner photographs:
Albert STEINER (* 1877, † 1965) –
View towards Bellavista (Bernina Group) –
rotogravure
120,00 €
incl. Shipping
Delivery time: 7-14 days
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Albert STEINER (* 1877, † 1965) –
Burden of the day –
Print by Helio Sadag, Geneva
120,00 €
incl. Shipping
Delivery time: 7-14 days