Editorial comment for this plate:

“CUPID AFTER WINGS.”

OUR pretty child picture, this week, is from a copyrighted negative by F. W. Guerin, the distinguished professional photographer, of St. Louis.

The picture does not require an explanation. It tells its own story. Mr. Guerin has made a specialty of this class of work, and has met with unprecedented success, for his pictures are now eagerly sought in the art stores not only of his own city, but all over the land. “Cupid After Wings” has proved one of the most popular of his pictures.

It has been exhibited with great success at the convention of the Photographer’s Association of America. So far as we know, however, this is the first appearance the picture has made in any photographic or art journal. We shall hope to show our readers other specimens of Mr. Guerin’s artistic work in the future.

Fitz W. Guerin: 1846-1903

Fitz W. Guerin was a recipient of the Medal of Honor in the American Civil War. On returning to civilian life, he became a successful society photographer in St. Louis, Missouri.

Photography career: After the war, he returned to St. Louis and did menial jobs at a photographic gallery. He found better pay stringing telegraph wire for a railroad, but returned to photography, going into partnership and setting up Remington, Guerin, and Mills Gallery in Ottumwa, Iowa. He was eventually bought out and returned to St. Louis, where he worked for several established photographers, learning the trade. Finally, in 1876, he set up shop on his own. When he won an award at the 1878 Paris World’s Fair,^[6] he became an overnight success. He established a reputation, received international recognition for his portraits, and was several times president of the National Photographic Society. He opened several more galleries in the city, owning a total of six over his 27-year career. Pioneering women photographers Emme and Mayme Gerhard studied with him for three years. When he retired in January 1903, he sold his studio to them. Guerin died of a heart attack on July 11, 1903. He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, the same resting place as his Medal of Honor co-recipients, Hammel and Pesch. A 1982 American Heritage magazine article labeled him a “turbid Victorian hack”, though it did concede he was technically gifted. Some of his photographs are held by the Library of Congress.—Wikipedia (2026)