E.O. Hoppé (1878–1972) was a German-born British photographer whose work bridged the worlds of portraiture, travel, and modernist documentary photography in the early twentieth century. Born in Munich, Hoppé moved to London in 1902, where he soon became one of the most celebrated portrait photographers of his generation. His elegant yet psychologically acute portraits captured many of the era’s leading figures — from George Bernard Shaw and Albert Einstein to Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot — securing his reputation as a visual chronicler of modern life.
Beyond his studio, Hoppé was an adventurous traveler and innovator. His extensive journeys through Europe, the Americas, India, and Australia resulted in a series of photobooks and essays that combined aesthetic sophistication with an anthropological curiosity. Works such as Picturesque Great Britain (1926), Romantic America (1927), and Deutsche Arbeit (1930) reflected his fascination with industrial progress, urban experience, and the diversity of human culture.
Hoppé’s influence extended beyond photography into the broader visual culture of his time, shaping how modernity and identity were seen and represented. Although his reputation faded mid-century due to archival misclassification of his work, rediscovery efforts since the 1970s have reinstated him as one of the most significant figures in early modern photography. His oeuvre, spanning portraiture, travel imagery, and social documentation, reveals a restless intelligence and a profound sensitivity to the human condition.
The placement of photographs from the E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection into private and institutional collections is managed by Curatorial Gallery.
E.O.Hoppé's work has been exhibited at the following institutions:
Royal Photographic Society, London
National Portrait Gallery, London
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Fondazione MAST, Bologna, Italy
The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis
His work can be found in the following public collections:
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris
British Museum, London
George Eastman House, Rochester
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Media Museum, Bradford
National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
National Portrait Gallery, London
New York Public Library, New York City
Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Royal Collection Trust, UK
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Tate Gallery, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London