Eva Rubinstein
AktuellNowCourtesy Galerie Clara Maria Sels
“Silent Melancholy”
A centennial life of photographic art: Eva Rubinstein is honored on her 93rd birthday with exhibitions, a book presentation, and a film premiere in Düsseldorf
“Photography, clearer than handwriting and more enduring than dreams, can bring to light the deepest and most fundamental questions of our lives.” Eva Rubinstein
The internationally renowned New York-based photographer Eva Rubinstein turned 93 on August 18, 2026. To mark the occasion, the art city of Düsseldorf is honoring the artist’s extraordinary life’s work with a dual exhibition project at the Clara Maria Sels Gallery and the Museum Schloss Benrath, as well as a book launch and the premiere of the documentary film “A Conversation with Eva Rubinstein” in the presence of New York-based director Renate Aller. Eva Rubinstein will join the openings via live video call from the U.S.
As the eldest daughter of the legendary piano virtuoso Arthur Rubinstein and Nela Młynarska, Eva Rubinstein grew up in a household steeped in cultural history. Her personal biography bridges—like few others—the gap between pre-war European bohemian life, the Hollywood glamour of exile, and the global world of photographic art.
Rubinstein developed a distinctive visual language that is almost exclusively in black and white. Her photography explores the connection between visible reality and deep, invisible emotions (interiors, intimate portraits of her father, a search for traces in Poland).
Eva Rubinstein often described her photography as an exploration of the “third dimension.” By this she means the fusion of visible reality with the viewer’s deep, invisible emotions.
The 290-page publication is intended as a tribute to Eva Rubinstein and her work. It brings together an extensive selection of photographs from 1967 to 1995, along with personal interviews, memories, and previously little-known private photographs. The result is an exceptionally personal portrait of the artist, in which Eva Rubinstein herself tells her story and offers insights into the development of her visual world. The book not only documents the work of a significant 20th-century photographer but also preserves her own voice.
The exhibition and publication were realized in cooperation with Museum Schloss Benrath.