Dance study

Meyer, Adolf de (1868-1949)

Item type:

photographic object

Date of creation:

ca. 1912

Height:

32.7 cm  (12 7/8 in.)

Width:

43.5 cm  (17 1/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

platinum print

Place of creation:

Paris (France)

Additional titles

Description

A single female figure, photographed in 3/4 length. She holds her right arm up, and her left arm rests on a ledge, in a pose that could be described as startled. She is naked from the waist up, with fabric of some kind tied around her waist. She wears a face mask, that appears to be made of a pale fabric, with a darker scarf tied around her neck. There are cut-outs in the mask for her eyes and nostrils.

Iconclass

48C8422
female dancer

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Notes

From the Met Museum notes on the photograph:
“De Meyer photographed the dancer Nijinsky and other members of Diaghilev's troupe when "L'Après-midi d'un Faun" was presented in Paris in 1912. It has been suggested that this photograph, the only nude by de Meyer, has some connection to the Russian ballet, but if so, it remains mysterious. It has been suggested that this photograph, the only nude by de Meyer, has some connection to the Ballets Russes, but the nature of that link remains mysterious. The image vibrates with an uneasy erotic tension, a product of the figure’s exposed torso, startled body language, and disguised identity.”

RIdIM record id

5080

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