Otto Ludwig Bettmann, born 15th October 1903 in Leipzig, was the founder
of the Bettmann Archive, one of the most famous historical photograph
collections from the XXth century.
The Bettmann Archive was founded in
1936 and includes photographs going back to the American Civil War
period (1861-1865), comprising some of the most famous images from the
history of the United States. The archives also consist of images from
Europe and elsewhere.
Otto Ludwig Bettman was a German museum curator
who emigrated to the United States in 1935, taking with him 2 trunks
containing approximately 25, 000 images, most of which were negatives
that he produced himself. He settled in the Tischman building on West
57th Street in New York in 1960.
In 1981 when he sold it to the
Kraus-Thomson Organization, the collection included 5 million photos,
prints, posters, reproductions and other graphic supports retracing the
history of the XXth century.
In 1990 Kraus-Thomson bought 11.5 million
photographic images, mostly from United Press International and Reuters.
Many of them are famous like the one of Winston Churchill doing the V
for victory, an astronaut on the moon, Albert Einstein sticking out his
tongue and Marilyn Monroe holding down her dress above a metro air vent.
Otto Ludwig Bettmann passed away in Florida on 3rd May 1998. He is
considered as the one who discovered the photographic resource trade.
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| The Real Bettmann..!! |
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