Baron de Meyer's Palace, Venice, 1905

Gum bichromate print
x1976-327
Baron de Meyer's Palace, Venice

Interpretation

The celebrated New York studio portraitist Gertrude Käsebier captured this hydrangea-lined arcade in the Palazzo Balbo Valier, which the glamorous portrait photographer Baron Adolph de Meyer rented every summer. At this palace on the Grand Canal, he and his wife Olga entertained guests, such as Käsebier and her friend Frances Benjamin Johnston, a fellow photographer. The two women cruised the Mediterranean in 1905 and particularly enjoyed "wallowing in the charms of Venice." It is clear from this photograph, as well as others from the same trip, that Käsebier valued a soft-focus, painterly approach to photography. With Alfred Stieglitz, she helped found the Photo-Secession, which strove to establish the medium as a fine art.

Information

Title
Baron de Meyer's Palace, Venice
Object Number
x1976-327
Maker
Gertrude Käsebier
Medium
Gum bichromate print
Dates
1905
Dimensions
19.4 x 24.2 cm. (7 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Mina Turner
Culture
American
Place made
Europe, Italy, Venice
Inscriptions
Titled in graphite, verso: Baron de Meyer's Palace, Venice
Type
Techniques

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