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Gloeden, Wilhelm von
(1856-1931)Sicilian children with dog

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Fotografie des 19. – 21. Jahrhunderts (Katalog nur online verfügbar)
Auktionsdatum 29.11.2025

Sicilian children with dog. 1904. Albumen print. 22,4 x 17 cm. Photographer's "V. Von Gloeden / Taormina-Italia-Sicilia / Proprietà Artistica dell’Autore” studio stamp, therein dated “25 FEB 1904” in purple ink and handwritten inventory number “2145” in blue crayon on the verso.

An unusually intimate and psychologically nuanced portrait from von Gloeden’s lesser-known work in Taormina. While he is best remembered for his idealized male nudes referencing antiquity, this image reveals a more grounded, genre-oriented facet of his practice - one shaped by the ethnographic gaze, yet resisting its detachment. The naturalism of the children’s pose, their direct engagement with the camera, and the subtly staged setting speak to von Gloeden’s ability to merge local character with a distinctly pictorial sensibility. Works of this kind enrich our understanding of his broader project: not only to mythologize, but also to preserve the human texture of rural Sicilian life at the turn of the century. Another version of this print is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. – Minimal fading in left and lower edge, backed tear (ca 3,5 cm) in left edge, a few light foxing spots, otherwise in very good condition with strong tonal range and crisp detail.

Lit.: Ulrich Pohlmann. Wilhelm von Gloeden: Sehnsucht nach Arkadien. Berlin: Nishen, 1987, ill. p. 94.