4043 - Gloeden, Wilhelm von

Gloeden, Wilhelm von Elderly Man and Youth at a Fountain. 1902. Salted paper print, printed in 1909 or later. 17.7 x 22.6 cm. Faint violet photographer’s “W. VON GLOEDEN / TAORMINA (SICILIA) / PROPRIETÀ ARTISTICA" studio stamp and "GRANDE MEDAGLIA D’ORO / DAL MINISTERO PUBBLICA ISTRUZIONE / 1909" award stamp on the reverse; additional pencil annotations. The staged setting of white drapery, garden foliage, and an ornate fountain is characteristic of Gloeden’s classically inspired Taormina tableaux. Costume, pose, and architecture transform the scene into an idealized vision of an imagined Mediterranean past. – Light surface scuffing and scattered small scratches; a small dark rectangular opaque mark in the lower left of the image; minor foxing, soiling, and age discoloration on the margins and verso, and a few small dark marks in the lower right margin; the image is slightly faded but retains warm brown tones; otherwise in good condition.