Harlip was a photographic studio specialising in celebrity portraits, based at 161 New Bond Street, Mayfair, London, England and run by Dr Gregory Harlip, and later his widow Madame Monte Harlip, née Rosa Hachnochi, both of Eastern European origin.
Her father built Kurfürstendamm 99 (destroyed in the war, today 100).
Up until 1937, the "Atelier Harlip", as it was called in German, had been based at Kurfürstendamm 24 (now Lindners Hotel).
Among their customers were actors and actresses like Lilian Harvey, Camilla Horn, Dolly Haas, opera singers Gitta Alpar and Jarmila Novotna.
Known for catchphrases to the sitter such as "Give me Rembrandt", her ingredients for a good portrait were "life, honesty of expression, simplicity".