"Two ice covered trees, near Saint-Mortiz, Switzerland"

gelatin silver print

signed (ink) on recto, titled, dated (ink) and artist stamp on verso

On March 10, 1947, LIFE magazine published the article “The War is Over, and Cocktails are Being Served: St. Moritz, 1947” about the Swiss resort of St. Moritz. Alfred Eisenstaedt had previously been commissioned by LIFE to produce a photo reportage about the luxurious resort and its extravagant visitors, which included the photograph of the two ice-covered trees “Two ice-covered trees, near Saint-Moritz, Switzerland”.
Exiled kings and queens, little princes and princesses, beauties, almost-beauties, athletes and bankers from the international scene considered St. Moritz the place to spend their winter vacations. This was not only because this village high up in the Alps of south-eastern Switzerland was and still is a world-famous winter sports center, with a famous Olympic bobsleigh run, incomparable ski slopes and miles of beautiful mountain trails. This is mainly due to the fact that St. Moritz is the most fashionable village in Europe. For more than half a century, the aristocracy has gathered on the alpine slopes, in the open-air cocktail bars and in the luxurious dining rooms. St. Moritz has always been the place to see the world's greats. It was also the place where the not-so-great were seen.
Somehow, St. Moritz survived the war without being closed down. In the winter of 1947, despite the currency restrictions, the resort still exuded all the hedonistic elegance of the pre-war years ... except that by then, as one local remarked, “the princes were no longer princes”. 
(Christoph Fuchs, translated by deepl)

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