EINSTEIN

In Midtown Manhattan, there is a giant mural of Einstein by the Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra. If you walk by, you can’t miss it. Here is Einstein, several stories high, on the side of a building, cheerfully riding a bicycle displaying a sign reading ☮ = ♥2. It’s stunning. Even jaded New Yorkers sometimes stop to take pictures in front of it.

Kobra has created murals of other figures around the city: Elvis, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and more. These all make sense—they were literally rock stars. But a scientist dressed in a tie and plain sweater who has been dead for nearly seventy years? That’s odd. But the strangest thing is, perhaps, that it doesn’t seem so strange, for Einstein’s image is everywhere—in college dorm rooms, in advertisements, in fine art galleries, and on the streets of New York.

What is it about Einstein? What has made his image endure all these years, even for many who know little of his scientific achievements?

In helping to curate the Einstein Berger collection, I often found myself staring at an Einstein photo wondering what makes his image so powerful. Whether he is trying to solve a difficult scientific problem, full of despair contemplating the fate of the world, or lightheartedly playing with children, Einstein seems to be communicating his emotions directly to us. Somehow, in looking at these photographs we feel we know him, that if he walked into the room right now we could talk to him and understand each other. This is extraordinary, considering we are contemplating someone who explored realms of thought inaccessible to nearly all of us. Perhaps that is part of his appeal as well—he seems approachable and often empathetic, yet when we look at him we are also filled with wonder and inspired by his genius.

I feel privileged to have worked on the Berger collection for many years. It was joyful to be surrounded by these images and to study Einstein’s thoughts and discoveries through the original documents and letters. We hope in these pages, we were able to communicate and share this joy with you.

—MICHAEL DiRUGGIERO