fbpx

Famous Einstein photo sells at auction for $125,000

[additional-authors]
July 28, 2017
The Nate D. Sanders auction house advertises the sale of an iconic photo of Albert Einstein taken in 1951 and signed by the physicist. Photo by Nate D. Sanders, Inc

A famous photograph of Albert Einstein, sticking out his tongue at a photographer and signed by the renowned scientist, has been sold for $125,000, the Nate D. Sanders auction house in Los Angeles announced the evening of July 27.

As per company policy, the Sanders auction house did not reveal the buyer’s identity.

United Press International (UPI) photographer Arthur Sasse took the picture on March 14, 1951, while covering a birthday party for Einstein, given by his colleagues at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University.

Einstein had gotten tired of smiling for photographers at the party and when Sasse renewed the request, the scientist stuck out his tongue instead.

Initially, UPI editors hesitated to publish the irreverent photo, but when they did, Einstein was so amused that he ordered nine prints to give to close friends.

The $125,000 selling price, which equaled the minimum bid level set by the auction house, reflected the photo’s enhanced value through Einstein’s own signature on the margin. While the photo is generally shown cropped with only Einstein in the picture, the auctioned version represents the original, with Einstein seated between his hosts, Frank Aydelotte, head of the Princeton Institute, and his wife.

The 7-by-10 photo was previously on the market in 2009, when it was sold at auction for $74,324. The Hebrew University stands to benefit from the current $125,000 sale, since Einstein bequeathed his estate, including the use of his image, to the Jerusalem institution. Einstein, who died in 1955, assisted numerous Jewish institutions and organizations during his lifetime.

Einstein’s March 14 birthday continues to be celebrated in Princeton at “Pi Day” because the 3/14 date corresponds to 3.14, the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi.

His name has retained its universal recognition as a synonym for supreme intelligence. The National Geographic television channel has just concluded a series titled “Genius,” with Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn as the older and younger Einstein, respectively.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

The Heart of Cooking Healthy Green Rissoles

No matter where you’re born or how you were raised, one thing is certain — the more vegetables you place on the table, the more your family will learn to love them and expect them.

Holocaust Annulment

The genocide of the Jews is turned morally inside out. The victims are transformed into the villains — making it not only appropriate, but righteous, to have another go at ridding the world of them.

Sharia Socialism

The West is at an inflection point. Will it continue to submit, as Douglas Murray has put it, to a form of fascism that pretends to be a religion? Or will Zohran become the bridge too far — the Islamic zealot who forces the U.S. to finally say: Enough.

Autopsy of the American Dream

Resurrecting the middle class represents the nation’s foremost challenge, and accomplishing this objective requires a concerted commitment and decisive action.

What Is Education?

Talk to any person in extreme old age who is thriving, and you find someone who is endlessly curious.

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.