Robert Capa
Leipzig, Germany, April 18, 1945

ExpandFavorite

Images(2)

Artist Robert Capa (American, born Hungary, 1913–1954)American, born Hungary, 1913–1954

CultureAmerican

Titles

Leipzig, Germany, April 18, 1945

DateApril 18, 1945, printed c. 1955–1962

Place depictedLeipzig, Germany

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 13 5/8 × 9 7/8 in. (34.6 × 25.1 cm)
Sheet: 14 × 10 7/8 in. (35.6 × 27.6 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Marion and Joe Mundy Endowment Fund

Object number2012.20

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Special Collections

World War II in Photographs

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionOn April 18, 1945, Capa entered Leipzig with the U.S. First Army. He sought the top floor of a building overlooking the city center, as he later wrote, “to see if the last picture of crouching and advancing infantrymen could be the last picture of the war for my camera.” Moments after Capa entered an apartment, a young corporal manning a machine gun on the balcony was hit by a sniper’s bullet and died almost instantly. Although this photograph did not capture the last casualty of the war, as mistakenly claimed by many, Capa’s image communicates the significance of this late-fallen soldier. Life printed five views of the scene, but this photograph is a variant not published at that time.
Provenance[Magnum Photos, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2012.
Exhibition History“Made for Magazines: Iconic 20th-Century Photographs,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 9–May 4, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in ink with various other marks in pencil:
GERMANY WWII 1943 (crossed out) 1945 / Leipzig
69449 82 113-18928

Printed label on verso:
R. CAPA WORLD WAR II / LEIPZIG 1945

Stamped label on verso:
MAGNUM / Mangum Photos Inc. (c) 1945 Robert Capa / [barcode] Leipzig, GERMANY, 1945 A US soldier killed in / house-to-house fighting. This Victim became the / symbolic last man to die in Europe for Capa.

PLEASE CREDIT / ROBERT CAPA - MAGNUM / MAGNUM PHOTOS INC. / 15 West 47th Street / New York 19, N. Y.

Please Credit ROBERT CAPA - MAGNUM . COURTESY - LIFE MAGAZINE

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.