Uta of Naumburg statue Germany, 1924
Printed later

Among the references that fascinated Horst from an early age is the celebrated “stone portrait” of Uta von Ballenstedt (c. 1000–1046), whom the writer Umberto Eco would later describe as “the most beautiful woman of the Middle Ages”. The sculpture stands in Naumburg Cathedral, near Weissenfels an der Saale, Horst’s birthplace.

Created in the thirteenth century by the anonymous artist known as the Naumburg Master, the work pays tribute to the founders and benefactors of the sanctuary and embodies the elegance and expressive power of German Gothic sculpture. In the twentieth century, it was appropriated by the Nazi regime and turned into an idealized symbol of Aryan beauty in its propaganda.

The sculpture encapsulates many of the qualities of feminine beauty that Horst would tirelessly bring to the fore in his own images.

Paper cutouts by Horst P. Horst
c. 1923

In the early 1920s, Horst formed a close friendship with Eva Weidmann, a student at the Bauhaus in Weimar, where she studied singing, dance, and theatre under Oskar Schlemmer and Lothar Schreyer. A decisive influence, she deeply fascinated him and guided him toward the world of modernism.

Through her references to Isadora Duncan, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Paul Klee, Nacktkultur, and the rhythmic theory of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, she opened his imagination to the artistic avant-gardes and to new conceptions of the body and movement. Both practiced Notan, a Japanese aesthetic principle based on the harmony of light and dark, by cutting paper forms.

This attention to silhouettes, shadows, and counterforms would later find a direct echo in Horst’s work, where the cast shadow becomes a central element of composition, functioning like an inverted presence at the heart of the image.

Lisa Fonssagrives, dress by Balenciaga
Vogue, 1951
Printed 1980s

This was the last time that Vogue sent me to Paris to photograph the collections. - Horst P. Horst

White Sleeve. Doris [Lyla] Zelensky modeling a suit by Robert Piguet, hat by Suzanne Talbot 
Paris, 1936
Vintage print
The model is Doris [Lyla] Zelensky, a Russian refugee, living in Paris.

She knew how to wear dresses. I accentuated the important part of the dress and chose not to show the whole thing. - Horst P. Horst

Valentyna Sanina-Schlee modeling a black evening gown
Vintage print

Ukrainian designer Valentyna Sanina-Schlee, aka Mrs. George Schlee. She has created looks for Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and other movie stars, participated in the formation of American couture and is the only Ukrainian designer whose clothes are represented in the leading American fashion museums such as the Fashion and Textile Museum and the Costume Center of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lisa Fonssagrives modeling a hat by Suzy, jewellery by Boucheron

1938
Vintage print

This photograph shows the influence of the surrealist movement. The only surrealist I knew was Dali, because the rest were anti-Cocteau. They thought he was rock-bottom−too much in society, too homosexual. Eluard went to the opening of Cocteau's play La Voix humaine and stood up and cried out 'Obscene!' until they took him away. - Horst P. Horst

Classical Still Life

1937 
Printed 1980s

I took this for Eleonora von Mendelssohn, who needed a design for a needlepoint she wanted to make to show Toscanini that she was doing something. - Horst P. Horst

Still Life, Houden, Hoop
1937
Printed 1980s

I used to go to the Louvre, in the 1930s, to study the famous statues and portraits there and to learn from the example of the great artists of the past. - Horst P. Horst

Marlene Dietrich

USA, 1942
Vintage print

I like taking photographs, because I like life. And I like photographing people best of all, because most of all I love humanity. - Horst P. Horst (1982)

Luchino Visconti
Paris, 1936
Printed later

Here, Horst has photographed Visconti in the studio as the elegant young man of European society. "He had probably never before been in a photographer's studio. He is hesitant, distant, condescending; an air of superiority shows in his face. Visconti and I both loved to design sets and backgrounds like the one I created for his portrait. - Horst P. Horst

Letter to Horst from Salvador Dalí
Original document

Hotel St Regis, Fifth Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street
My dear friend, I am reworking the [nose??] and now I believe that it is best not to touch it anymore, because the slightest change could destroy the imponderables that make it so special.
I hope to see you soon. Good day.
Dalí

Letter to Horst from Salvador Dalí

Original document

Del Monte Lodge, Pebble Beach, California

Dearest, 

Your portrait has been completely transformed into a Nordic warrior style – don't worry, I already have a buyer for it! But I won't do anything without your approval. When I return, you'll have a choice of choices! The success of my book has inspired me to write a 700-page novel for next year, and I have already started. 

How did the photo shoot with Valentine and [??] go? I hope you will make a [??] and dominate the situation. [...] and to you. 

It's heavenly here. Non-stop sunshine. But I'm still staying indoors.

Dalí