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Tilly Losch

1 of 22 portraits of Tilly Losch

© 2022 E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection / Curatorial Inc.

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Tilly Losch

by E.O. Hoppé
gelatin silver print, 7 May 1928
7 5/8 in. x 8 in. (193 mm x 202 mm) image size
Purchased, 2015
Primary Collection
NPG P1995

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Emil Otto ('E.O.') Hoppé (1878-1972), Photographer and writer. Artist or producer associated with 196 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

With a knack for conveying the personality of his sitters and an unflinching eye for composition, Hoppé was among the most sought-after celebrity portraitists of his day, becoming as famous as the people he photographed. His ability to capture the personality of his sitters was achieved, in part, by thoroughly familiarising himself with their creative work. He believed this encouraged his sitters to let down their guard, enabling him to make more natural likenesses. Tightly cropped, facing directly into the camera and head held level, this resolutely modern portrait of the dancer Tilly Losch presents her as a powerful and formidable figure. It was made the same year as the passing of the Representation of the People Act in 1928, which gave women equal rights to vote. By this time, Hoppé was a vocal advocate for women’s suffrage.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 61 Read entry

    Tightly cropped, with the sitter facing directly into the camera and her head held level, this resolutely modern portrait of Tilly Losch (1907-75) presents the dancer as a powerful and formidable figure. It was made in 1928, the same year as the passing of the Representation of the People Act, which gave women equal rights to vote. The photographer E.O. Hoppé (1878-1972) had become famous in the 1910s and 1920s for his photographs celebrating the physical beauty of women, such as those published in his Book of Fair Women. Over the years, his approach to photographing women evolved, and by the time this picture was made he was himself a vocal advocate for women’s suffrage.

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1928back to top

Current affairs

The Representation of the People Act 1928 grants women the same rights to vote as men. Building on reform of 1918, this Act lowered the voting age for women from 30 to 21, and removed the ownership of property requirements.

Art and science

Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. The Scottish scientist's identification of the first antibiotic revolutionised the treatment of infection and is a landmark in medical history. By the Second World War, penicillin was being used to treat wounded soldiers and had a major impact on survival rates of those with infected wounds.

International

Stalin announces the Soviet Union's first Five-Year plan of economic development. Based on Lenin's New Economic Policy, the Five-Year Plans aimed to expand the country's economy through rapid centralised industrialisation.

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