Gelatin silver print
USA, New York, 1945, printed 1980
Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) – German-American Photographer
Verso with Eisenstaedt’s hand stamp
Verso in pencil inscribed ‘V-Day – Kiss / Life. Aug. 14, 1945. File 484’
Verso stamped ‘Propiedad de Tito Franco’
Sheet size: 35.5 x 28 cm
Good condition
Provenance: German private collection
Photographs by Alfred Eisenstaedt with the famous motif ‘Victory over Japan Day’ fetch up to 26,000 euros at international auctions

This work by Alfred Eisenstaedt is a unique documentary photograph taken August 14th 1945. It depicts a arine soldier kissing a nurse after the capitulation of Japan in 1945 and the consequential end of World War II, which is also known as the ‘Victory over Japan Day’ or simply ‘V-J Day’. The original photo was published on the cover of Life Magazine and therefor became a symbol of hope and spontaneous joy about the end of World War II.



This gelatin silver print is verso stamped with Eisenstaedt’s hand stamp and also ‘Propiedad de Tito Franco’. It is further inscribed in pencil ‘V-Day – Kiss / Life. Aug. 14, 1945. File 484’. The photograph is matted and in an overall good condition, indicating two light transversal creasing marks, one of them reaching the area of the nurse’s skirt seam. The sheet size is 35.5 x 28 cm. The dimensions with mat are 50 x 40 cm.



Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995)

Alfred Eisenstaedt was born in 1898 in Dirschau as a son of a Jewish merchant family. Already in his early years, Eisenstaedt worked as a freelance photographer for the ‘Berliner Tagesblatt’ before he became an independent photojournalist in 1929. After the NS regime came to power, Eisenstaedt immigrated to the United States in 1935 where he worked for the Associated Press and became one of the most important photographers of the newly founded Life Magazine. In 1950, Alfred Eisenstaedt was nominated Photographer of the Year. During his long career, 2.500 of his photo documentaries were printed, additionally to 92 cover pictures of the Life Magazine. Up until old age, Eisenstaedt was regarded as one of the most important chroniclers of his time; he portrayed international celebrities such as Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, George Bernard Shaw and Marlene Dietrich. The picture titled “The Kiss”, where a marine soldier is shown kissing a nurse after the capitulation of Japan in 1945 and the consequential end of World War Two, is one of his most famous images.

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