' CAIN ' ANTIQUE WILHELM VON GLOEDEN PHOTO TAORMINA/ITALY NUDE/GAY/HOMOEROTIC INT.
Item History & Price
'CAIN'By Wilhem Von Gloedenc1902.
With another unattributed photographed entitled 'The Fountain ~ Taormina' to rear.
The photograph appears to be a salted paper print, with the image being formed within the fibres of the uncoated paper. Sepia toned or similar with a matt finish.
There is a Gloeden stamp to the reverse of the Cain print which can be seen if held up to the light, the first part of which reads 'W. VON GLOEDEN, TAORMINA (SICILLA)....'
Si...ze:Paper mount: 12.25 x 16.5 inchesPhotograph: 11 x 14.25 inches
Condition:Titled 'Cain' in pen to top.Photograph has been glued onto thick paper. There is another photograph glued to the rear as the photograph came from a large album of 19th & early 20th century photographs.Backing paper a little creased and buckled in places. Fading to image edges. The top portion of the image also appears a little 'patchy' in places?Paper mount browned to edges with small tear to bottom edge which may be a little brittle.---Wilhelm Iwan Friederich August Freiherr von Gloeden (1856 – 1931) was a German photographer who worked mainly in Italy. He is mostly known for his pastoral nude studies of Sicilian boys, which usually featured props such as wreaths or amphoras, suggesting a setting in the Greece or Italy of antiquity. From a modern standpoint, his work is commendable due to his controlled use of lighting as well as the often elegant poses of his models. His innovations include the use of photographic filters and special body makeup (a mixture of milk, olive oil, and glycerin) to disguise skin blemishes. While today Gloeden is mainly known for his nudes, in his lifetime he was also famous for his landscape photography that helped popularize tourism to Italy. In addition, he documented damage in from the 1908 Messina earthquake, which may explain why the locals mostly approved of his work.
TaorminaIn a search for health, he travelled to Italy (1877–78), first staying in Naples before moving on to Taormina in Sicily. He lodged at the Hotel Vittoria before buying a house near San Domenico Convent. Apart from the period 1915–18, during the First World War, when he was forced to leave Sicily to avoid internment as an enemy alien, he remained in Taormina until his death in 1931.The mayor of the town in 1872–1882 was the German landscape painter Otto Geleng [de] (1843–1939), who had moved there in 1863. Through him, Gloeden became acquainted with the local inhabitants. He set up his photographic studio at first as a hobby and was exhibiting his work internationally by 1893.His cousin Guglielmo Plüschow (1852–1930), also a photographer of nudes, helped von Gloeden get more familiar with the technical side of photography (until then von Gloeden had not been a hobby photographer). Other important teachers of von Gloeden were local photographer Giovanni Crupi [it] (1859–1925) in the Via Teatro Greco and the pharmacist/photographer Giuseppe Bruno (1836–1904) in the Corso.The majority of Gloeden's pictures were made before the First World War, in the years from 1890 to 1910. During the war, he had to leave Italy. After returning in 1918, he photographed very little but continued to make new prints from his voluminous archives. In 1933, some 1, 000 glass negatives from Gloeden's collection and 2, 000 prints were confiscated by Benito Mussolini's Fascist police under the allegation that they constituted pornography, and were destroyed; another 1, 000 negatives were destroyed in 1936. Most of the surviving pictures (negatives and prints) are now in the Fratelli Alinari photographic archive in Florence. Gloeden scrupulously shared the proceeds of his sales with his models. The names of some of the models are known: Pasquale Stracuzzi (known as "Pasqualino"); Vincenzo Lupicino (known as "Virgilio" & seen in the "Boy with Flying Fish" photographs); Peppino Caifasso or Carafasso (who posed as "Ahmed"); Pietro Caspano or Capanu; Nicola Scilio, Giuseppe De Cristoforo; and Maria Intelisano (niece of the parish priest of nearby Castelmola).
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.Full refund if not completely satisfied.
Combined shipping available at cost. Welsh Bridge Books & Collectables is a bricks and mortar shop located alongside the River Severn at Shrewsbury, in a beautiful 16th Century building housing three floors of interesting and eclectic books and collectables for sale. If you're in Shropshire please pop by and say hello! Thank you.
With another unattributed photographed entitled 'The Fountain ~ Taormina' to rear.
The photograph appears to be a salted paper print, with the image being formed within the fibres of the uncoated paper. Sepia toned or similar with a matt finish.
There is a Gloeden stamp to the reverse of the Cain print which can be seen if held up to the light, the first part of which reads 'W. VON GLOEDEN, TAORMINA (SICILLA)....'
Si...ze:Paper mount: 12.25 x 16.5 inchesPhotograph: 11 x 14.25 inches
Condition:Titled 'Cain' in pen to top.Photograph has been glued onto thick paper. There is another photograph glued to the rear as the photograph came from a large album of 19th & early 20th century photographs.Backing paper a little creased and buckled in places. Fading to image edges. The top portion of the image also appears a little 'patchy' in places?Paper mount browned to edges with small tear to bottom edge which may be a little brittle.---Wilhelm Iwan Friederich August Freiherr von Gloeden (1856 – 1931) was a German photographer who worked mainly in Italy. He is mostly known for his pastoral nude studies of Sicilian boys, which usually featured props such as wreaths or amphoras, suggesting a setting in the Greece or Italy of antiquity. From a modern standpoint, his work is commendable due to his controlled use of lighting as well as the often elegant poses of his models. His innovations include the use of photographic filters and special body makeup (a mixture of milk, olive oil, and glycerin) to disguise skin blemishes. While today Gloeden is mainly known for his nudes, in his lifetime he was also famous for his landscape photography that helped popularize tourism to Italy. In addition, he documented damage in from the 1908 Messina earthquake, which may explain why the locals mostly approved of his work.
TaorminaIn a search for health, he travelled to Italy (1877–78), first staying in Naples before moving on to Taormina in Sicily. He lodged at the Hotel Vittoria before buying a house near San Domenico Convent. Apart from the period 1915–18, during the First World War, when he was forced to leave Sicily to avoid internment as an enemy alien, he remained in Taormina until his death in 1931.The mayor of the town in 1872–1882 was the German landscape painter Otto Geleng [de] (1843–1939), who had moved there in 1863. Through him, Gloeden became acquainted with the local inhabitants. He set up his photographic studio at first as a hobby and was exhibiting his work internationally by 1893.His cousin Guglielmo Plüschow (1852–1930), also a photographer of nudes, helped von Gloeden get more familiar with the technical side of photography (until then von Gloeden had not been a hobby photographer). Other important teachers of von Gloeden were local photographer Giovanni Crupi [it] (1859–1925) in the Via Teatro Greco and the pharmacist/photographer Giuseppe Bruno (1836–1904) in the Corso.The majority of Gloeden's pictures were made before the First World War, in the years from 1890 to 1910. During the war, he had to leave Italy. After returning in 1918, he photographed very little but continued to make new prints from his voluminous archives. In 1933, some 1, 000 glass negatives from Gloeden's collection and 2, 000 prints were confiscated by Benito Mussolini's Fascist police under the allegation that they constituted pornography, and were destroyed; another 1, 000 negatives were destroyed in 1936. Most of the surviving pictures (negatives and prints) are now in the Fratelli Alinari photographic archive in Florence. Gloeden scrupulously shared the proceeds of his sales with his models. The names of some of the models are known: Pasquale Stracuzzi (known as "Pasqualino"); Vincenzo Lupicino (known as "Virgilio" & seen in the "Boy with Flying Fish" photographs); Peppino Caifasso or Carafasso (who posed as "Ahmed"); Pietro Caspano or Capanu; Nicola Scilio, Giuseppe De Cristoforo; and Maria Intelisano (niece of the parish priest of nearby Castelmola).
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.Full refund if not completely satisfied.
Combined shipping available at cost. Welsh Bridge Books & Collectables is a bricks and mortar shop located alongside the River Severn at Shrewsbury, in a beautiful 16th Century building housing three floors of interesting and eclectic books and collectables for sale. If you're in Shropshire please pop by and say hello! Thank you.
