.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
Baron de Meyer’s photographic sensibility was formed within the precepts of the Photo-Secession, the movement that sought to earn for photography a place among the fine arts. In the wake of the industrialization of the medium, its increased speed and ease of use, and its ever-wider availability, the secessionists emphasized painterly effect, mood over detail, atmosphere over sharpness. In the dandified de Meyer, the movement found a perfect protagonist, motivated by an ‘Art for Art’s sake’ high aestheticism. Cecil Beaton later dubbed him ‘the Debussy of the camera.’ It was de Meyer’s destiny to bring this artistry to the realm of fashion and of social elegance. Employed by Condé Nast from 1913 to make images for Vogue, he brought photography to the forefront in the sophisticated illustration of fashion and high society. De Meyer favored a soft focus and soft lighting to create a painterly effect and he employed backlights to create haloes around his models. With changing times, ever in the vanguard of taste, he developed fresh styles, including a more crisp, graphic ‘Jazz Age’ look. In 1923 he was lured to Harper’s Bazaar.
De Meyer was an innovator in the photography of fashion, of dance, and of society figures. His images for Elizabeth Arden were an innovation in another sphere – that of advertising – in which he initiated the striking series imagery of what today we would today call a ‘brand promotion’ campaign. He created for the cosmetics company a number of close variations on a theme, that of a highly stylized head and shoulders of a model, her face finely delineated with cosmetics, framed in a tight white fabric, sometimes holding white flowers, a white mask, or a hand-mirror, symbols that reference beauty, vanity, and the refinements of artifice. The photographs were published through the twenties and the cumulative effect of this historic campaign was considerable in the promotion of the company’s identity, underpinning Elizabeth Arden’s place in this booming new market for cosmetics.
De Meyer was an innovator in the photography of fashion, of dance, and of society figures. His images for Elizabeth Arden were an innovation in another sphere – that of advertising – in which he initiated the striking series imagery of what today we would today call a ‘brand promotion’ campaign. He created for the cosmetics company a number of close variations on a theme, that of a highly stylized head and shoulders of a model, her face finely delineated with cosmetics, framed in a tight white fabric, sometimes holding white flowers, a white mask, or a hand-mirror, symbols that reference beauty, vanity, and the refinements of artifice. The photographs were published through the twenties and the cumulative effect of this historic campaign was considerable in the promotion of the company’s identity, underpinning Elizabeth Arden’s place in this booming new market for cosmetics.