Victoria Regia

Flowers, Gardens

Dimensions

Image Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 cm : Art folio #4, plate #4

The Baron was famous for making up his own history:  in the book:  A Singular Elegance: The photographs of Baron Adolph De Meyer, we learn a few facts however:

 “De Meyer was born around 1868; it seems likely that his parents were Adele Watson and Adolphus Meyer, and (although he spent some of his early years in Paris) he was educated in Germany.  He changed the spelling and arrangement of his name frequently during the 1890’s; exhibition catalogues list him variously as “Adolf” or “Adolph,” “Meyer” or “Meyer-Watson” and add or delete a “von”––his identity, even in this initial period, is nebulous at best.” 1.

In addition to this photogravure showing large water-lilly pads, a full page halftone photograph by the Baron is reproduced in the letterpress on page #13 in the 1899 portfolio. The subject is a dramatically lit  Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Lady Macbeth.  The remainder of the Baron’s work for Die Kunst in der Photographie is reproduced in the year 1905- an additional two photogravures and six autotypes.

1.  A Singular Elegance: The photographs of Baron Adolph De Meyer:  Chronicle Books, San Francisco in association with International Center of Photography : New York: 1994 : p. 15