Bertolt Brecht Signed Letter to Creative Partner Neher

BRECHT, BERTOLT. Typed Letter Signed, “herzlichst dein alter b.” (“Sincerely your old man b.”), in German, 1p on onion skin, 8.25” x 11.5”, no place, no date. Flattened folds, some curling at edges, small corner tear at bottom right, else near Fine condition. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity by KOTTE Autographs. Untranslated.

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (1898-1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a playwright in Munich and moved to Berlin in 1924, where he wrote “The Threepenny Opera” with Kurt Weill and began a lifelong collaboration with the composer Hanns Eisler. Immersed in Marxist thought during this period, he became a leading theoretician of epic theatre, which he later preferred to call "dialectical theatre". During the Nazi Germany period, Brecht fled his home country, first to Scandinavia, then during World War II to the United States, where he was surveilled by the FBI. Returning to East Berlin after the war, he established the theatre company Berliner Ensemble with his wife and long-time collaborator, actress Helene Weigel.

Brecht’s modest family home in Augsburg, where he was born, is today preserved as a Brecht Museum. It was during school in Augsburg where Brecht met lifelong friend Casper Neher, the recipient of this letter. Neher designed many of the sets for Brecht's dramas and helped to forge the distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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