15

Baron Adolphe de Meyer

1868-1946

Nijinsky, L'Après-midi d'un Faune. 1912; published 1978.

Palladium prints
A bound album complete with 33 photographs by de Meyer, printed by Richard Benson

Folio, cloth with a printed title label; in the original card box. ONE OF AN EDITION OF 250, THIS NUMBER 7, SIGNED BY RICHARD BENSON.

New York and London: The Eakins Press Foundation and Dance Books, [1978]
the images 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm.), and the reverse, and slightly smaller, the sheets slightly larger, the mounts 18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.6 cm.)

  • Provenance: In 1912 de Meyer made this series of photographs related to the Ballets Russes production L'Après-midi d'un faune [Afternoon of a Faun]. The dance was choreographed by Nijinsky, set to a score by Claude Debussy, and inspired by a poem by writer Stéphane Mallarmé. In the ballet, a faun is distracted from his flute playing by bathing nymphs who seduce him. When the ballet premiered, the sexual climactic scene scandalized audiences. This suite was originally published in 1914 as collotypes, and then included just 30 images. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, only seven sets are currently known to remain (the colophon of the book states three). This edition added three additional images by De Meyer discovered in the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library.
  • Condition:
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August 21, 2025 10:30 AM EDT
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