18.00USD
This lovely image of Rose Clark tangled in vines, probably taken in conjunction with a performance, was taken by Schloss of New York and published by the French company, S.I.P. There is just the hint of a thin tree in the darkness behind her, giving the suggestion of a mystical nighttime realm. We love the way in which the magical is suggested in images of La Belle Époque—or, since this is an American photograph, The Gilded Age, without the introduction of a single truly fantastic element. These images make us feel much as we might when reading a fairy tale, that at any moment something truly marvelous will happen.
Photographer Jacob Schloss is a great favorite of ours. Born in 1856, he was a New York City native who specialized in portraiture, in particular of people associated with the performing arts, especially beautiful women, although his photographic work also extended to society portraits. Technically skilled, he was on top of new advances in the field, was considered a master of both natural and artificial lighting, and was active in professional associations of photographers. Schloss photographed such notables as Isadora Duncan, multi-talented Dorothy Donnelly, and actress Kate Claxton (who, after escaping from a theater fire, and another in a hotel, shortly thereafter, was seen by her fellow thesbians as a jinx and treated as a pariah, though the town of Claxton, Georgia was named after her). This might give one the idea that theater people are a superstitious lot. Nothing could be further from the truth! That is, as long as you don't say the name of the "Scottish play" outloud, and as long as you don't cough outloud during the third act of... :) His work can be found in art collections held by NYC’s Museum of Modern Art, available through the NY Public Library Digital Gallery, and the NYPL’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs.
Sources:
Archives of American Art http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/images/detail/isadora-duncan-2072
Broadway Photographs, Jacob Schloss http://broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/jacob-schloss
The Cabinet Card Gallery http://cabinetcardgallery.wordpress.com/category/photographer-schloss/
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs (NY Public Library) http://wallachprintsandphotos.nypl.org/catalog
New York (City) Museum of Modern Art (NY Public Library Digital Gallery) http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm
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!