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22.00USD
Here at Red Poulaine, we have a special place in our hearts for the Italian actress images of the early 1900s and into the 1920s. The quality of the portrait photography and subsequent postcard publication was particularly rich, with a flair for the dramatic and mysterious. Many of our favorites, like Anna Fougez and Nella Regini, began their careers as sciantose, a variation on the French term chanteuse, meaning female singer, but bringing to it other meanings, and implying a dark, mysterious, exotic quality that appealed to the theater going public at the time, and certainly appeals to us :) Naturally we love all of our images or we probably wouldn't purchase them for our shop, and feel an almost filial affection for the performers onto whom we project imagined personalities and traits (is that weird? :), but there is something about what seems to have been at the time a very Italian penchant for carrying the illusion of the stage and screen out into the public venue, a tendency to make even larger, the already "larger than life" persona of the theatrical personality, that we really love. So we have decided to open a new section devoted exclusively to these Italian artistes. We call it "La Bella Donna," and yes it is a bit of a play on words, given the tendency in many of these cards to focus on qualities of a "femme Fatale" type. We hope you will enjoy these images as much as we do.
Wonderful image of Yvonne (also Ivonne) De Fleuriel (1889-1973), born Adele Croce, she was a greatly beloved singer who rose to fame as a sciantosa (Italian for the French word chanteuse, or singer, but with a kind of "femme fatale" connotation attached) in Naples.
When Paris was the center of theatrical entertainment, but also because so many of us tend to find what is "foreign" to be romantic and alluring, it was not very uncommon for Italian and Russian actresses of the period to take on French names. Particularly in Italy, the development of a romantic public image was absolutely essential, to the degree that young performers starting out, sometimes found it difficult to afford a "claque" of fans. It was a common practice to pay such an entourage who would cheer your arrival on a train and applaud in an audience. Those performers who tried to buck the system were, on the other hand, sometimes catcalled and booed by the unpaid claque. This kind of harassment, almost a variety of protection racket really, was deeply ingrained in the system, a fact that a young and impoverished Enrico Caruso, also a Neopolitan, learned to his chagrin when at an early performance in his home town of Naples, he was harassed by such a group. He was so embarrassed and unhappy with this that he vowed never to perform in that city again, and although after becoming the world's most famous operatic tenor, he gave performances in Italy, he kept his word, and never performed in Naples, but only visited to enjoy a plate of Spaghetti Napolitana. Oh Mama! Perfetto! :)
Fantastic 1920s flapper image on an A. Traldi sawtooth edged card. Very nice condition. Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!
