Portrait of Elisabeth Lotte Franzos

Born into a wealthy Viennese family, Fleischmann studied art history in Paris and trained at a photography institute in Vienna. She graduated in 1916 and took up several apprenticeships before joining the Viennese Photographic Society in 1919. She opened her own studio in 1920—the year she took this pensive portrait of the Viennese society figure Lotte Franzos, who was known for hosting artists, writers, and politicians at her salon.

Fleishmann was one of several successful Jewish women photographers in interwar Vienna who benefitted from perceptions of photography as a commercial trade rather than a form of fine art. Fleishmann never married and maintained romantic relationships with women throughout her life, as well as mentoring and supporting younger women photographers.

In the interwar period, Fleischmann’s portraits of celebrities and entertainers were published in popular German-language magazines. In 1925, a Berlin attorney accused her of indecency for her sensual portraits of dancers. Fleeing Nazi persecution in 1938, Fleishmann emigrated to Paris, London, and then New York, where she operated a studio in midtown Manhattan from 1940 to 1969 producing work for clients including Vogue