Wilhelm von Gloeden
| Wilhelm von Gloeden | |
|---|---|
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Wilhelm von Gloeden in 1891
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| Born |
September 16, 1856 Wismar, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Confederation |
| Died | February 16, 1931 (aged 74) Taormina, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy |
| Nationality | German |
| Known for | Photography |
| Notable work |
Caino Hypnos |
| Patron(s) |
Oscar Wilde Friedrich Alfred Krupp Richard Strauss Wilhelm II, German Emperor |
Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (September 16, 1856 – February 16, 1931) was a German photographer who worked mainly in Italy. He is mostly known for his pastoral nude studies of Sicilian boys, which usually featured props such as wreaths or amphoras suggesting a setting in the Greece or Italy of antiquity. From a modern standpoint, his work is commendable due to his controlled use of lighting as well as the often elegant poses of his models. His innovations include the use of photographic filters and special body makeup (a mixture of milk, olive oil, and glycerin) to disguise skin blemishes.
Wilhelm von Gloeden's background has always been something of a mystery. Although Gloeden claimed to be a minor German aristocrat from Mecklenburg, the heirs of the baronial branch of the Gloeden family have always insisted that no such person existed in their family records and that his claim to a barony was without warrant; the barony became extinct in 1885 with the death of Baron Falko von Gloeden.
It is believed he was the son of head forester Carl Hermann Gloeden (1820–1862) and his wife Charlotte Maassen (1824–1901; from 1864 Charlotte von Hammerstein).
After studying art history in Rostock (1876), Gloeden studied painting under Karl Gehrts at the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School (1876–77) until he was forced by lung disease (apparently tuberculosis) to interrupt his studies for a year, convalescing at a sanatorium in the Baltic Sea resort of Görbersdorf. In a search for health, he travelled to Italy (1877–78), first staying in Naples before moving on to Taormina in Sicily. He lodged at the Hotel Vittoria before buying a house near San Domenico Convent. Apart from the period 1915-18, during the First World War, when he was forced to leave Sicily to avoid internment as an enemy alien, he remained in Taormina until his death in 1931.
The mayor of Taormina in 1872-82 was the German landscape painter Otto Geleng (1843–1939), who had moved there in 1863. Through him, Gloeden became acquainted with the local inhabitants. He set up his photographic studio in Taormina at first as a hobby and was exhibiting his work internationally by 1893 (London), including Cairo (1897), Berlin (1898–99, including a solo exhibition), Philadelphia (1902), Budapest & Marseilles (1903), Nice (1903 & 1905), Riga (1905), Dresden (1909) and Rome (World Fair 1911).
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