About the artist
Born in London as Francis Julian Gutmann in 1913, 'Franzie' spent his childhood in Munich from 1919, and began dabbling in photography with a Box Brownie camera. In 1931, he moved back to London and by 1938, had anglicised his last name. At 18, Franzie apprenticed himself to Shaw Wildman, a fashion and advertising photographer, and subsequently worked alongside Peter Rose Pulham, whose Berkeley Square studio he eventually took over. Early on, his fashion photos graced the pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and his high society portraits were featured in The Sketch. Tragically, much of his work from the 1930s got lost during World War II, but some still remain scattered in photo magazines, annuals and press copies.
