Adolf DeMeyer Art for Sale at Auction

Photographer

(b Paris, 1868; d Hollywood, CA, 6 Jan 1949). French photographer. He was brought up in Paris and during the 1890s also became established in London as part of a circle of aristocrats and socialites. In 1899 he married Olga Caracciolo, whose godfather was the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII). He soon became noted for his elegant photographic portraits, such as that of his wife Olga de Meyer (c. 1900; Rochester, NY, Int. Mus. Phot.). He had started exhibiting in London and Paris in 1894 and in 1898 was elected to the LINKED RING. This rapid success was due to the influence of Whistler and the Aesthetic Movement in his works: he used diffuse back-lighting and soft focus to give an air of unreality both to his portraits and to his still-lifes (e.g. Still-life with Flowers , Providence, RI Sch. Des., Mus. A.). In 1901 Meyer was made a baron by Frederick-Augustus III, King of Saxony, at the request of his cousin Edward VII.