Items Similar to CARL VAN VECHTEN PHOTOGRAPH OF BALLERINA ALICIA MARKOVA AUTOGRAPHED 1941
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Carl Van VechtenCARL VAN VECHTEN PHOTOGRAPH OF BALLERINA ALICIA MARKOVA AUTOGRAPHED 19411941
1941
About the Item
Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by CARL VAN VECHEN of ballerina ALICIA MARKOVA autographed and inscribed to fellow Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo star dancer GEORGE (YURI) ZURICH in 1941.
This outstanding art photograph brings three prominent 20th Century iconic artists together immediately before the U.S. entered World War II - it is a unique gem of mid 20th Century dance and theater historic memorabilia.
The photograph measures 7 5/8 x 10 inches and is on heavy photographic paper with deep rich tones that were only available with the early gelatin silver process due to the amount of silver necessary in development.
“Photograph by Carl Van Vechten” is embossed in the lower left corner. On verso is stamped “Photograph by Carl Van Vechten 101 Central Park West Cannot be reproduced without Permission”. “IS.19” is written in ink.
CARL VAN VECHTEN (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. He gained fame and notoriety as a writer for his controversial 1926 novel Nigger Heaven. In his later years, he took up photography and took many portraits of the most notable people in the music, arts, dance, film and social elite including Tallulah Bankhead, Paul Cadmus, Salvador Dali, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Henri Matisse, Anthony Tudor, Orson Welles and many, many others. Although he was married to women for most of his adult years, Van Vechten engaged in numerous homosexual affairs over his lifetime as is now recognized as a prominent figure in the gay cultural and social movements of the early and mid 20th Century. As one of the early 20th Century’s leading art photographers Van Vechten greatly influencing the work of George Platt Lynes, Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Leibovitz and many outstanding ‘beefcake’ photographers of the 1950s and 1960s.
The Library of Congress has 1,400 of Van Vechten’s photographs in their collection and he is represented in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian American Art Museum, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Art Museum, The National Portrait Gallery in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and many other prominent collections throughout the world.
DAME ALICIA MARKOVA (1910 –2004) was a leading British ballerina, choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. She toured internationally and was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the twentieth century. She was the first British dancer to become the principal dancer of a ballet company and, with Dame Margot Fonteyn, is one of only two English dancers to be recognized as a prima ballerina assoluta. Markova was a founding dancer in the Rambert Dance Company, The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, and was co-founder and director of the English National Ballet. She joined Ballet Russes when she was 14 years old and throughout her career danced and work alongside the greatest celebrities in the arts, music and dance including Picasso, Matisse, Igor Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Massine, Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Margot Fonteyn, and Anton Dolin. Markova is best remembered for her roles as Giselle, The Dying Swan and Les Sylphides. In this Carl van Vechten photograph she appears in her role from Les Sylphides.
The inscription in red ink… “For dear Yuri. With my love to a very kind & sweet person. Alicia. 1941”.
Yuri was George Zoritch (born Yuri Zoritch 1917– 2009), a Russian-born ballet dancer who was also a star dancer is the the Ballet Russes company throughout Europe, South America and the United States in the 1930s. In the early 1940s he came to Hollywood and over the next decade was a featured dancer in 8 major films working with Alexis Smith, Cary Grant, Eleanor Parker, Errol Flynn, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Victor Mature, Hedy Lamarr and others. He returned to ballet in the 1950s to revive the legendary roles of Nijinski specifically “Spectre de la Rose” and “Afternoon of a Faun” with Le Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. Zoritch was internationally known as one of the most glamorous figures and striking personalities in mid-twentieth-century ballet. He was a regular and iconic model for photographers Carl van Vechten, George Platt Lynes, and Maurice Seymour. In the first draft of his autobiography “Dance Mystique” Zoritch claimed to have had an affair with Flynn which helped lead to the breakup of Flynn and his first wife Lili Damita in 1942.
- Creator:Carl Van Vechten (1880 - 1964, American)
- Creation Year:1941
- Dimensions:Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)Width: 7.63 in (19.39 cm)Depth: 0.07 in (1.78 mm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Excellent condition.
- Gallery Location:Glenford, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: Carl Van Vechten photograph of Alicia Markova 1stDibs: LU2458215300072
About the Seller
4.8
Gold Seller
Premium sellers maintaining a 4.3+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 1980
1stDibs seller since 2023
23 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 4 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Glenford, NY
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllBette Davis - George Hurrell Hollywood Photograph Vintage 1940
By George Hurrell
Located in Glenford, NY
Bette Davis iconic portrait by famed Hollywood art photographer George Hurrell from 1940. It is stamped on the verso with authentic Hurrell identification.
This is a original mint ...
Category
1940s Other Art Style Portrait Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
George Platt Lynes Vintage 1949 Photograph #9 of dancer Francisco Moncion
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Glenford, NY
George Platt Lynes Photograph #9 of dancer Francisco Moncion 1949.
George Platt Lynes rare original vintage 1949 gelatin silver photograph of dancer Francisco Moncion. Stamped on verso - GEORGE PLATT LYNES. Photo is 7 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches, glossy finish in excellent condition.
This photograph is #9 from a collection of 12 different poses in this series taken in Platt Lynes's NYC studio in 1949 (as per the NY Public Library archives). The cloud backdrop is recognizable in other Platt Lynes photographs. Moncion was a personal friend of Platt Lynes and this photograph is from Moncion's personal photographic collection.
George Platt Lynes (1907–1955), was a gregarious American portrait, dance, fashion, and male nude photographer whose career spanned the late 1920s through the early 1950s. From age eighteen, Lynes entered the cosmopolitan world of the American expatriate community in Paris when he became acquainted with the salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. He began photographing authors like Stein, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Colette and soon established himself as one of the premier fashion photographers in the Condé Nast stable, documenting the ballet companies of George Balanchine/Lincoln Kirstein, and pursuing a private obsession with seductive images of young male nudes rarely published in his lifetime. Platt Lynes photographs are in the collections of every major art museum and university archive including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Yale Art Museum, and the Smithsonian.
Francisco Moncion (July 6, 1918 – April 1, 1995) was a charter member of the New York City Ballet. Over the course of his forty year career, choreographers George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins in the New York City Ballet created 22 major roles for Moncion including the Dark Angel in Orpheus, Death in La Valse, Prince Ivan in Firebird, and the Boy in Afternoon of a Faun. He was also a choreographer and a talented painter who exhibited alongside Miro, Picasso and Carrado Cagli. Moncion was a popular model for many famed mid-century (late 1930s, 1940s - 1950s) figure photographers including Platt Lynes, Carl van Vechten, Maurice Seymour...
Category
1940s Post-War Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1940s Photograph of "Beefcake" model MIKE DUBEL #5 Framed
Located in Glenford, NY
COLD WINTER SUPER SPECIAL...$825...FRAMED
Rare 1940s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of bodybuilder and Mr. America con...
Category
1940s Post-War Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1940s Photograph of "Beefcake" model MIKE DUBEL #7 Framed
Located in Glenford, NY
COLD WINTER SUPER SPECIAL...$825...FRAMED
Rare 1940s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of bodybuilder and Mr. America con...
Category
1940s Post-War Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1950s Beefcake Photograph of VIC SEIPKE & JIM PARK
Located in Glenford, NY
COLD WINTER SUPER SPECIAL...$960... Framed.
Rare 1950s Iconic Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of popular physique model...
Category
1950s Post-War Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1950s Photograph "Beefcake" model LARRY KLEIN #1 Framed
Located in Glenford, NY
Rare 1950s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of popular young physique model LARRY KLEIN. Klein is seen here in a double ...
Category
1950s Post-War Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
You May Also Like
LILIYA II
By Jacques Beneich
Located in Miami, FL
In this picture the artist approaches the themes of women, nudity, sensuality using feathers, gold and a frame hold by a sexy model: A wink to musical comedies, theaters, illusion and show girls under a benevolent Buddha.
The artwork of Jacques Beneich is an ever renewed exploration of his passion for fashion photography, black and white movies, and music, re-visited with an explosion of colors as a tribute to life. While working as a fashion photographer with the most well known magazines and companies, Jacques Beneich started working as a portraitist. In 1989 he signed one of the most famous series of portraits of some of the greatest jazz and blues musicians...
Category
2010s Aesthetic Movement Nude Photography
Materials
Aluminum
The Swan, With Leda (Limited Edition of 25) - 30x40 In Fine Art Print
Located in New York, NY
This 2009 photograph by legend photographer, John Stoddart depicts “The Swan with Leda.” It was inspired from the mythology of the Greek story of Leda and the Swan, when the God Zeus...
Category
Early 2000s Conceptual Black and White Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Tilda Swinton (Limited Edition of 25), 30x40 In - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This 1986 black and white photograph was shot by British celebrity and fashion photographer, John Stoddart, captures Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton,...
Category
1980s Young British Artists (YBA) Black and White Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
$6,635 Sale Price
20% Off
Free Shipping
Daniel Craig Contact Sheet (Limited Edition of 25) - 30x40 In Celebrity Print
Located in New York, NY
This is a 2002 contact sheet (a positive print of all the negative images from a roll of 35mm film or medium format film) of youthful-looking Daniel Craig...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Black and White Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Tilda Swinton (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This 1986 black and white photograph was shot by British celebrity and fashion photographer, John Stoddart, captures Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton,...
Category
1980s Young British Artists (YBA) Black and White Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Daniel Craig (Limited Edition of 25), 30x30 In - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
Daniel Craig, photographed in 2002 by British celebrity and fashion photographer, John Stoddart, prior to Craigs casting as 007, James Bond. Craig was th...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Black and White Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
$3,317 Sale Price
20% Off
Free Shipping