588 - Wilhelm von Gloeden (Wismar 1856 - 1931 Taormina)

Wilhelm von Gloeden (Wismar 1856 - 1931 Taormina) Female nude study, 1902 albumen print 22,5 x 16,9 cm verso stamped W. v. Gloeden Kunstverlag, deposited Sep. 1902, Taormina Sicilia, and dated 1902 SCHÄTZPREIS / ESTIMATE € 500 - 1000 STARTPREIS / STARTING PRICE € 500 Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856–1931) was a German photographer best known for his staged nude and portrait photographs of young men in Taormina, Sicily. Living primarily in Sicily from the 1870s onwards, he developed a visual aesthetic that combined Mediterranean landscapes, classical-style costumes, ruins, and male bodies. His photographs merged nude and portrait photography with a deliberately constructed vision of ancient Sicily, helping to establish Taormina as a significant hub of European art and photographic culture around 1900. Beyond Taormina, his photographic body of work encompasses subjects and travels across the wider Mediterranean region, including Capri and other parts of Sicily. His homoerotic images of men became a key element in the history of queer photography and the photographic depiction of the male nude. Von Gloeden’s work belongs to the context of European art and nude photography of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; it is particularly linked to that of his relative and fellow photographer Wilhelm von Plüschow, who also photographed male nudes in Italy. Together, they developed a visual language that fused classical body ideals, Mediterranean landscapes, and homoerotic staging. The broader context also includes photographers such as Gaetano D’Agata—who later worked in Taormina—as well as the traditions of classical nude photography, Orientalist photography, and the reception of antiquity. Consequently, von Gloeden’s photographs are of particular importance to the history of LGBTQ+ photography as well as to the evolution of male nude photography, travel photography, and staged photography. PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights and platform fee. In the case of normal taxation (marked ° at the estimate), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax is added to the sum of the highest bid, the buyer's premium and platform fee. This amounts to 13% for paintings, drawings, graphic works and sculptures and 20% for photographs and all other items. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.