Madame Yevonde

Madame Yevonde. The dancer Margaret Morris 1939. Tricolor separation negative

Margaret Morris

The dancer Margaret Morris 1915-1920

The dancer Margaret Morris 1915-1920

The dancer Margaret Morris 1915-1920

Karel Smirous

Karel Smirous. Maria 1929. Autochrome

Alexander Grinberg

Alexander Grinberg. Acrobatic dance study in open air 1920s

Alexander Grinberg. Acrobatic dance study in open air 1920s

Alexander Grinberg

Alexander Grinberg. Sunbather 1920s

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon. Two figures 1953

Henry Edward Gaze

Henry Edward Gaze. The waters of Lethe 1920s

In Greek mythology, Lethe, daughter of Eris (Discord), is the personification of oblivion. She is often confused with the river Lethe, one of the five rivers of the underworld, sometimes called the « River of Oblivion. »

Henry Edward Gaze

Henry Edward Gaze. Figure 1920

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon. Studio equipment, two plates fixed by a safety pin, positioning in radiography 1939

Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins. Flowers study 1920

Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins. Advertisement for Cutex nail polish 1924

Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins. Advertisement for Myer’s gloves 1920

Bible (Song of Songs)

« Your breast is a round cup, full of spiced wine; your body is a heap of wheat surrounded by lilies. Your two breasts are like the twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower; your eyes are the pools of Heshbon, set by the gate of the daughter of multitudes; your nose is straight and proud like the tower of Lebanon, which watches over the side of Damascus » (Bible, Song of Songs)

Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins. Tower of ivory 1924

Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins. Nude study 1923

Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins. Reclining woman 1923

Paul Éluard

« She stands on my eyelids
And her hair is in mine
She has the shape of my hands
She has the color of my eyes
The lover

She sinks into my shadow
Like a stone against the sky
She always has her eyes open
And doesn’t let me sleep
The lover

Her dreams in broad daylight
Make the suns evaporate
Make me laugh, cry, and laugh
Speak without having anything to say
The lover. » (Paul Eluard)

Erwin Blumenfeld

Erwin Blumenfeld. Poufs and pirouettes 1938

Unknown photographer

An Oceanid dressed with a toga, Delphi, Greece 1930.

In Greek mythology, the Oceanids are nymphs primarily associated with the waters of their father Ocean. They are sometimes considered the nymphs of the inaccessible sea depths.

Man Ray

The Marchesa Luisa Casati was a major figure in early 20th-century European society. She left her mark on her time with her extravagance, her theatrical appearance, and her taste for the occult; giving large, lavish masked balls, she rubbed shoulders with both high society and avant-garde artists. Her eccentricities and beauty forged her reputation as a femme fatale and contributed to her celebrity. She became a legend among her contemporaries, notably by hosting the Ballets Russes. She amazed the audience by walking with cheetahs on leashes and wearing live snakes as jewelry.

Man Ray. The Marchesa Luisa Casati 1922

Man Ray. The Marchesa Luisa Casati 1922

Man Ray. The Marchesa Luisa Casati 1922

Madame D’Ora

Madame D’Ora. The actress Léopoldine Konstantin 1917

Karl Struss

Karl Struss. The actress Gloria Swanson in Why change your wife? 1920

Alfred Cheney Johnston

Alfred Cheney Johnston. The Ziegfeld girl Martha Pierre as candlelight 1920s

Pearl dancers

Pearl dancers from Ballet of jewels 1926

Brigitte Helm

The actress Brigitte Helm in Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang in 1927

Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham. The unmade bed 1957

Imogen Cunningham. The unmade bed 1957

Danté Béa

« We will remain hidden from these dolls disarticulated, their limbs fragmented, stranded, like nauseous wrecks, rejected by these virtual ports, our anchor will hold away… » (DantéBéa)

Vassily Kandinsky

Vassily Kandinsky. Mood line 1927

Atelier Nadar

Atelier Nadar. The dancer Cléo de Mérode 1894

Paul Nadar

Paul Nadar. Two dancers 1895-1905.

In 1887, Félix Tournachon, known as Nadar, retired to his house in the Sénart forest, leaving his son Paul at the head of the famous studio he had created in the mid-1850s. To the refined and intimate official portraits of Félix, Paul preferred more complex scenographies, using accessories and sets that identified the person photographed in their role or professional capacity. Many actors and actresses paraded before his lens, reinterpreting scenes performed at the time in the greatest Parisian theaters.

Karl Struss

Karl Struss. Dancers, Queens, Long Island, New-York 1915. Autochrome

Karl Struss. Dancers, Queens, Long Island, New-York 1915. Autochrome

William Mortensen

William Mortensen. Meditation 1924

William Mortensen

William Mortensen. The goddess Hecate 1926

William Mortensen. The goddess Hecate 1926

In Greek mythology, Hecate is a goddess of the moon, magic, and boundaries.

William Mortensen

William Mortensen. Mary the sinner 1926

Florence Henri

Florence Henri. Portrait composition with flowers 1930-1931

Florence Henri. Portrait composition with flowers 1930-1931

Florence Henri

Florence Henri

Florence Henri. Self-portrait 1928

Florence Henri. Self-portrait 1928

Florence Henri. Self-portrait 1928.

« Everything I know, and how I know it, is mainly made up of abstract elements: spheres, planes, and grids whose parallel lines offer many possibilities, not to mention the mirrors I use, to present the same object from several different angles within the same photograph, in order to produce, in the same way, different visions that complement and complement each other, and which, taken as a whole, are more likely to explain it. At bottom, all this is much more difficult to explain than to do. »

Unknown photographer

Unknown photographer. Mata Hari 1906

Unknown photographer. Mata Hari 1906

Gertrude Kasebier

Gertrude Kasebier. The crystal gazer 1904

John Cimon Warburg

John Cimon Warburg. The dryad 1910. Autochrome

Emma Barton

Emma Barton. Heather 1906. Photogravure

Emma Barton

Emma Barton. The lily pond 1911. Autochrome

Emma Barton

Emma Barton. The soul of the rose 1905

Emma Barton

Emma Barton. The gardener’s daughter 1911

Natasha Atlas

« We are so insignificant,
And my friend the rose
Told me so this morning.
At dawn I was born,
Baptized with dew.
I blossomed,
Happy and in love,
In the rays of the sun.
I closed myself off at night,
Woke up old.
Yet I was very beautiful,
Yes, I was the most beautiful
Of the flowers in your garden.
We are so insignificant,
And my friend the rose
Told me so this morning.
See the God who made me
Made me bow my head,
And I feel I’m falling,
And I feel I’m falling,
My heart is almost naked,
I have one foot in the grave.
Already I am no more.
You only admired me yesterday
And I I would be dust
Forever tomorrow.
We are so insignificant,
And my friend the rose
Died this morning.
The moon last night
Woke my friend awake.
In a dream, I saw,
Dazzling and naked,
Her soul dancing,
Far beyond the clouds
And smiling at me.
He who can believe, believes,
I need hope
Otherwise I am nothing.
We are so insignificant,
And my friend the rose
Told me this morning.
See the God who made me
Made me bow my head,
And I feel I’m falling,
And I feel I’m falling,
My heart is almost naked,
I have one foot in the grave.
Already I am no more.
You only admired me yesterday
And I would be dust
Forever tomorrow. »

Vaslav Nijinski

The dancer Vaslav Nijinski in The Specter of the Rose 1911. Costume by Léon Bakst.

Léon Bakst

Léon Bakst. Costume designed for Vaslav Nijinski in The Specter of the Rose 1911

Vaslav Nijinski

The dancer Vaslav Nijinski in The Specter of the Rose 1911. Costume by Léon Bakst.

The dancer Vaslav Nijinski in The Specter of the Rose 1911. Costume by Léon Bakst.

Barbara Ker-Seymer

Barbara Ker-Seymer. Jean Cocteau 1931

Barbara Ker-Seymer. Jean Cocteau 1931

Olga Bontjes van Beek

The dancer Olga Bontjes van Beek 1923

František Drtikol

František Drtikol. Nude with necklace 1914

František Drtikol

Frantisek Drtikol. Nude study 1925

František Drtikol

František Drtikol. Nude study 1926

František Drtikol

František Drtikol. Nude study 1927

František Drtikol

František Drtikol. Nude study 1928

Ida Rubinstein

Ida Rubinstein as Saint Sebastian in The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian 1911. Text by Gabrielle D’Annunzio. Music by Claude Debussy. Choreography by Mikhail Fokine. Costume and set design by Léon Bakst.

Jeanne Mandello

Jeanne Mandello. Nude woman 1928

Jeanne Mandello

Jeanne Mandello. Nude study 1946-1947

Jeanne Mandello

Jeanne Mandello. Flowers in a vase 1950. Photogram

Anaïs Nin

« I couldn’t live in any of the worlds they offered me: the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world of my own, like a climate, a country, an atmosphere in which I could breathe, reign, and recreate myself after having been destroyed by life. This, I believe, is the reason for being of any work of art. » (Anaïs Nin)

Laura Gilpin

Laura Gilpin. Narcissus 1928

Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham. Three harps 1935

Jeanne Mandello

Jeanne Mandello. Advertisement for Maggy Rou perfume 1935-1938

Ellen Auerbach

Ellen Auerbach. The dancer Renate Schottelius 1953

Annemarie Heinrich

Annemarie Heinrich. The dancer Renate Schottelius 1952

John Cimon Warburg

John Cimon Warburg. A Watteau lady 1909. Autochrome

Constant Puyo

Constant Puyo. Portrait of a woman 1910

Constant Puyo

Constant Puyo. Symbolist portrait of a woman 1900

Constant Puyo

Constant Puyo. Young woman smiling 1900s. Color bichromated gum printed

Constant Puyo

Constant Puyo. The straw hat 1906

Autochrome Lumière

Autochrome Lumière. Young woman in a garden 1900s

Constant Puyo

Constant Puyo. Woman dressed as a sultana 1900s

Constant Puyo

Constant Puyo. Portrait in four colors 1904

Nobuko Tsuchiura

Nobuko Tsuchiura. Doll between shadow and light 1938

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen. Calla lily 1938

Ferdinand Flodin

Ferdinand Flodin. The actress Greta Garbo 1923

Barbara Morgan

Barbara Morgan. Growing corn stalks 1945

Adele Gloria

Adele Gloria. Untitled 1933.

Adele Gloria was the only female Futurist in Sicily. She distinguished herself in the field of aerial painting and the avant-garde in Catania in the early 1930s. A poet, photographer, painter, sculptor, and journalist, she was a « total » artist according to the canons of the Futurist movement.

Uno Falkengren

Uno Falkengren. Three dancers (Anna Behle in the middle) 1917

Uno Falkengren

Uno Falkengren. Three dancers (Anna Behle in the middle) 1917

Man Ray

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Man Ray

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Man Ray. The painter Karin van Leyden 1929

Ilse Bing

Ilse Bing. Gymnastic exercises 1930s

Ilse Bing

Ilse Bing. Catherine’s hands 1949

Max Ernst

Max Ernst. Earth seen from Venus 1962. Oil on wooden panel

Man Ray

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1925

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1925

Man Ray

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1930

Man Ray

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1928

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1928

Man Ray

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1921

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1921

Man Ray

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1921

Man Ray

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1930

Man Ray. The actress Génica Athanasiou 1930

Man Ray

Man Ray. Suicide, Kiki de Montparnasse 1928

Man Ray

Man Ray. Quartet 1917

Robert Bresson

From Au hasard Balthazar directed by Robert Bresson in 1966

Alberto Burri

Alberto Burri. Red plastic 1961

Madame Yevonde

Madame Yevonde. Lady Teynham 1960

Madame Yevonde

Madame Yevonde. Lady Teynham 1960

Madame Yevonde

Madame Yevonde. Lady Teynham 1960

Madame Yevonde. Lady Teynham 1960

Madame Yevonde

Madame Yevonde. Janet Mary Fox-Pitt and Lady Teynham 1960

Man Ray

Man Ray. Jacqueline Goddard 1930