![DE MEYER, BARON ADOLPH (1868-1949) [Marchesa Luisa Casati],](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/867/1636867.jpg?itok=SetuB5_f)
Lot Details
Lot 553
DE MEYER, BARON ADOLPH (1868-1949) [Marchesa Luisa Casati],
circa 1912, printed 1940. Gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 inches (355 x 280 mm), printed on recessed sheet, signed in pencil in the margin, the verso with the Kodak enlargement stamp and a pencilled notation "278A." Image in fine condition, no defects noted, minor soiling to the reverse of the sheet.
Luisa, Marchesa Casati Stampa di Soncino, was a patron of the arts and a notable beauty of the period, and was the subject of several photographs by De Meyer, of which the present is iconic, in large part because it was published in Camera Work. The present print is one of a group that de Meyer prepared for a 1940 exhibition held at the home of the actor Edward G. Robinson (a noteworthy collector of modern art). Unable to locate vintage examples of many of his images, de Meyer prepared enlargements from his negatives on large sheets of Eastman Kodak paper, hence the Kodak stamp on the verso. The quality of Kodak printing is excellent, and the resulting print is far larger than most of the photographer's vintage work, while preserving its aesthetic qualities.
This image was presented as a photogravure in Camera Work Number 40 (October 1912), plate III. See also International Center of Photography De Meyer: A Singular Elegance, p. 59; Knopf De Meyer, p. 37.
Provenance: Christie's, Photographs, April 8 1998, lot 248; to Norma and Martin Stevens. Norma Stevens represented Richard Avedon for thirty years, and her husband Martin (d. 2016) was an art and creative director for Revlon and other agencies.
C Collection of Norma and Martin Stevens
Additional Notes & Condition Report
No condition report? Click here to request one.