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NYC - Quicksilver Brilliance - Adolf de Meyer Photographs


  • Metropolitan Museum of Art   1000 5th Avenue New York, NY, 10028 United States (map)

The exhibition includes dazzling portraits of well-known figures of his time: the American socialite Rita de Acosta Lydig; art patron and designer Count Étienne de Beaumont; aristocrat and society hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell; and celebrated entertainer Josephine Baker, among others. A highlight of the presentation is an exceptional book—one of only seven known copies—documenting Nijinsky's scandalous 1912 ballet L'Après-midi d'un faune. This rare album represents de Meyer's great success in capturing the movement and choreography of dance, a breakthrough in the history of photography. Also on view are the artist's early snapshots made in Japan, experiments with color processes, and inventive fashion photographs.