GOEBBELS JOSEPH: (1897-1945) German Politician, Reich Minist...

GOEBBELS JOSEPH: (1897-1945) German Politician, Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany 1933-45 & MAGDA (1901-1945) German Nazi Party member, wife of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and herself a close ally, companion and political supporter of Adolf Hitler. Magda Goebbels is sometimes referred to as the unofficial 'first lady' of Nazi Germany. An exceptional pair of vintage signed and inscribed 8.5 x 11.5 photographs by both Joseph and Magda Goebbels individually, the images depicting Joseph in a formal head and shoulders study and Magda elegantly seated in a three-quarter length pose wearing a string pearl necklace and brooch. The latter photograph bears the studio signature of the Ernst Sandau photography studio. Joseph Goebbels has inscribed and signed ('Dr. Goebbels') his image in German, in bold, dark fountain pen ink, also adding the date, 3rd December 1941, in his hand and Magda Goebbels has inscribed and signed ('Magda') her image in German, in bold, dark fountain pen ink, also adding the place and date, Berlin, 3rd December 1941, in her hand. Both photographs are inscribed to Marina Chaliapin, thereby making them interesting association pieces, and it is rare to find a pair of portraits signed by both Joseph and Magda Goebbels of this size and quality. Both photographs are very slightly neatly trimmed to the edges, the image of Joseph has some minor spots of foxing to the background in the upper left corner and Magda's image has some silvering to the edges. G to about VG, 2 Marina Chaliapin (1912-2009) Russian ballerina & actress who was crowned Miss. Russia in 1931. Daughter of Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938) widely regarded as one of the finest bass singers of the 20th century, and his mistress Marina Petsold (1882-1964) who became the singer's second wife in 1927. Marina was married to Luigi Freddi (1895-1977) the Italian journalist and Minister of Culture who edited the journal Il Popolo d'Italia and who was also hugely influential in Italian political cinema in the second half of the 1930s and beginning of the 1940s. The Ernst Sandau photography studio in Berlin was founded by the Swedish photographer Ernst Sigfrid Pettersson (1880-1918) in around 1905. The studio soon developed a prestigious clientele, including Tsar Nicholas II and Queen Mary, and became the most popular studio amongst the members of Berlin's high society. After World War I it was taken over by the German photographer Suse Byk (1884-1943) until its closure in 1938. Byk was born in Berlin in 1884 into a Jewish family of Ukrainian origin.