Art Nude Dancer Alice Seltzer Vintage 1923 Arnold Genthe Negative Classical Pose
Item History & Price
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ITEM: This is a vintage and original June 22, 1923 camera negative photograph taken by the pioneering and important pictorialist photographer Arnold Genthe. Pictured here in the nude is dancer Alice Seltzer in a flowing, classical pose making this a beautiful, remarkable artifact from a groundbreaking photographer.
We have come into an extraordinary and very important historic collection of camera negatives, glass slides, and black and white transparencies from the New York City studio of Arnold Genthe, where the photographer worked from 1911 until his death in 1942. We acquired these at a local auction and it is interesting to note that we were the only ones in attendance at the auction or previews to take the contents out of a showcase and, with gloves, carefully examine the lot and see its remarkable scope and the beauty of the antique images.
These are some of the few examples of the photographer's negatives and personal estate to not end up in the Library of Congress, which purchased the contents of his studio a year after his death in 1943. The history and provenance is as follows: the previous owner, who consigned the works to auction, found this collection (totaling over 600 images) at a Wisconsin garage sale several years ago. How the collection got there is a mystery and we must say we were astonished at the breadth, quality, and intrinsic beauty of these images.
PLEASE NOTE: This auction is for the original camera negative. The scan below is of a positive view. There are no copyright or reproduction rights included in the sale.
Measures approx. 3 7/8" x 5 1/8".
CONDITION: Camera negative is in very good condition with light storage wear and ragged loss to the bottom and lower left corner edges. Please use the included images as a conditional guide.
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Arnold Genthe (January 8, 1869 – August 9, 1942) was a German-born American photographer, best known for his photographs of San Francisco's Chinatown, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and his portraits of noted people, from politicians and socialites to literary figures and entertainment celebrities.
Genthe was born in Berlin, Prussia, to Louise Zober and Hermann Genthe, a professor of Latin and Greek at the Graues Kloster (Grey Monastery) in Berlin. Arnold followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a classically trained scholar; he received a doctorate in philology in 1894 from the University of Jena, where he knew artist Adolf Menzel, his mother's cousin.
After emigrating to San Francisco in 1895 to work as a tutor, he taught himself photography. He was intrigued by the Chinese section of the city and photographed its inhabitants, from children to drug addicts, Due to his subjects' possible fear of his camera or their reluctance to have pictures taken, Genthe sometimes hid his camera. He also sometimes removed evidence of Western culture from these pictures, cropping or erasing as needed. About 200 of his Chinatown pictures survive, and these comprise the only known photographic depictions of the area before the 1906 earthquake.
After local magazines published some of his photographs in the late 1890s, he opened a portrait studio. He knew some of the city's wealthy matrons, and as his reputation grew, his clientele included Nance O'Neil, Sarah Bernhardt, Nora May French. and Jack London.
In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed Genthe's studio, but he rebuilt. His photograph of the earthquake's aftermath, Looking Down Sacramento Street, San Francisco, April 18, 1906, is his most famous photograph.
Within a short time, Genthe joined the arts colony in Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he was able to pursue his work in color photography. Of his new residence, he wrote, "The cypresses and rocks of Point Lobos, the always varying sunsets and the intriguing shadows of the sand dunes offered a rich field for color experiments.”
In 1911 he moved to New York City, where he remained until his death of a heart attack in 1942. He worked primarily in portraiture, and Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and John D. Rockefeller all sat for him. His photos of Greta Garbo were credited with boosting her career. He also photographed modern dancers, including Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis, and his photos were featured in the 1916 book, The Book of the Dance.
Genthe was an early adopter of the autochrome color photography process. He began experimenting with the process in 1905 in Carmel, California. He claimed credit for the first exhibition of color photographs in America; later scholars determined this is not accurate, but he was undoubtedly one of the earliest. His subjects included portraits, artistic nudes, and landscapes.
Genthe owned a cat called Buzzer. Buzzer often appeared in portraitures with Genthe's subjects, most notably Broadway actresses to whom the cat warmed. One such sitting in autochrome was with actress Ann Murdock.
— Biography From: Wikipedia
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