SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Period silver print
[Moscow, 1952], 17,9 x 11,5 cm
Stamp on the back: “Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.”
Small crease on the upper right corner, very slight stains with no significance

Striking portrait of the Russian composer

A label mounted on the back of the print indicates, in Russian:
“Фото № П 01744”: Archive photo number
“Ноябрь 1952 г., Москва”: November 1952, Moscow
Laureate of the 1st Class Stalin Prize, People’s Artist of the RSFSR,
composer Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich,
prize awarded for Ten Poems for Choir
“Пресс-фото негатив”: Press photo negative

With a magnetic gaze and tightly pressed lips, Shostakovich is captured here at the height of his fame, wearing a pair of glasses with a timeless design. Only his suit might betray the era in which this portrait was taken.

Eleven years earlier, in 1941, he received the Stalin Prize (as mentioned on the reverse) for his Piano Quintet, a work commissioned by the Beethoven Quartet, for which Shostakovich was to perform the piano part during the tour the quartet planned to undertake across the USSR in 1942.

Fine contrasts.