Germany mourns Helmut Newton
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Newton fled Nazi Germany in 1938.
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BERLIN (AP) -- Germans on Saturday mourned the loss of countryman Helmut Newton, the photographer acclaimed for his stark black-and-white nudes who was killed in a Los Angeles car crash.
Newton, whose photos appeared in magazines such as Playboy, Elle and Vogue, died Friday after apparently losing control of his car and crashing into a wall. He was 83.
Claudia Schiffer, just one of the scores of famous women to appear before Newton's lens, said she first posed for him in 1987.
"He was a friend and mentor," Schiffer told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "Through him I learned what a great photographer is. I will miss him."
Newton, who fled Nazi Germany in 1938 to escape persecution as a Jew, returned last October to donate more than 1,000 of his photos to a new gallery in Berlin, saying he was "proud" to have his work displayed in his hometown.
German Culture Minister Christina Weiss called Newton the "most important protagonist of modern photography."
"His such cool and intelligent productions, which left nobody unaffected, created a new genre of art," Weiss said in a statement. "It honors Germany that Helmut Newton ... offered his hand of reconciliation."
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder promised in a letter to Newton's wife, June, that the new Berlin gallery to open this summer will serve as a tribute.
"His photos live on and through them, Helmut Newton will be remembered," the chancellor wrote.
Berlin art dealer Heinz Berggruen, also a Jew who fled under the Nazis, called Newton "a close friend." Berggruen in 2000 sold a German government foundation part of his collection, including works by Picasso, Klee and Matisse, for a fraction of their worth.
"Like him I was a native born Berliner who had the intent of returning with his extraordinary collection, "Berggruen told Welt am Sonntag. "I grieve for a great Berliner."
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