Lot 189: ROSENBERG, ISAAC (1890-1918, poet and painter)

PORTRAIT BY AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER, vintage photograph, silver print, with his brother, Elkon, both on leave from the front, standing, in army uniform, Isaac in that of the King's Own Royal Lancasters, a variant of the images reproduced in standard books, inscribed on the verso 'London October 1917', but in fact thought to have been taken in September, stamped as was customary for use as a postcard, framed and glazed, size of image c. 5 x 3 inches (12 x 7.5 cm), overall size 11¼ x 8½ inches (29 x 22 cm) [1917]

The photographs of the two brothers taken in September 1917 were done on the insistence of their mother, Hacha. Contemporary photographs of Rosenberg are rare.

Of another photograph of Rosenberg taken at the same time, Malcolm Rogers notes in Camera Portraits, Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery: 'This photographic postcard is of a type that many a soldier would have made on leave to give to his family and friends.'