The great scientist Albert Einstein went from introducing the famous equation E = mc² in 1905 to becoming a literal meme in recent years, thanks to his famous “Einstein tongue” photo. Not to diminish his incredible contributions as a scientific legend, but this one moment instantly humanized a genius and revealed his playful and rebellious side. In reality, it was more like a tired child after a long day of birthday celebrations, just waiting to go home and collapse into bed.
This image captures that exact moment on March 14, 1951, during Albert Einstein’s 72nd birthday celebration at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The Nobel Prize winner had grown so fed up with the throng of reporters and photographers that he shouted, “That’s enough!” and, out of exasperation, stuck his tongue out at the crowd.
According to RR Auction, only United Press International photographer Arthur Sasse managed to capture this fleeting moment, a split-second shot that has since become one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century.
Known for his intellectual brilliance and sense of humor, Einstein liked the photo so much that he requested multiple copies for himself. He asked for nine prints to gift to his friends and even requested that the image be cropped to focus solely on his face. One of these signed “Tongue” photographs, personally autographed by Einstein, has now hit the auction block. The vintage glossy 5 x 7 photo of Albert Einstein is signed in the thin upper border in fountain pen in German, which translates to, “This gesture applies only to the rest of the world. Yours, A. Einstein 51.” The reverse side bears an International News Photos credit stamp that reads, “Int’l News Photos, 235 East 45th St., New York.”
Expected to fetch an estimated $40,000, the photo remains in very good to fine condition, with some scattered creasing. Signed examples of Arthur Sasse’s legendary photograph are exceedingly rare. In 2017, one such signed photo sold at auction for a staggering $125,000. Only last year, Albert Einstein’s historic 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which warned of Nazi Germany’s potential atomic bomb development, was auctioned at Christie’s in September 2024 for $3.9 million.
