Frieda Riess

Born into a Jewish family in Posen, Frieda Riess (German, 1890-1954) apprenticed as a photographer at Berlin’s Lette-Verein from 1913 to 1915. She opened her own studio on Kurfürstendamm in 1917. Since the early 1920s, she gained prominence as a society and art scene portraitist, picturing national and international artists, intellectuals and celebrities. Alongside she published in illustrated magazines. In 1925 avantgarde gallerist Alfred Flechtheim featured her work in a much-noticed one-woman-show. She continued showing her work in her own studio, followed attentively by the press . In 1930 she took part in the group show Gezeichnet oder geknipst, curated by editor Paul Westheim. From 1932, Riess lived in Paris and continued to move in social circles, but largely gave up photography. Since the German invasion of France in 1940, Riess led a reclusive life in constant fear of persecution. Little is known about her personal life after the Second World War. She died on March 20, 1954 in her apartment on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. The Verborgenes Museum organized a major retrospective of the artist's work in Berlin in 2008.