[ Photographs ] (Nudes) Ravishing album devoted to the female form, containing more than 160 photographs compiled by a mid-20th century aficionado of"the body," featuring 57 large-format turn-of-the-century studies of female voluptuaries posing au

[ Photographs ] (Nudes) Ravishing album devoted to the female form, containing more than 160 photographs compiled by a mid-20th century aficionado of"the body," featuring 57 large-format turn-of-the-century studies of female voluptuaries posing au naturel, the majority singly, some in pairs, mostly in stark studio settings ( which are beautifully lit), that recalling the work of Bellocq, the New Orleans photographer. The album features a pregnant supine model; a series of 7 pictures of a young woman in her boudoir lying langorously on her canopied bed; a woman gazing at herself in a mirror: in addition to scores of miscellaneous small-format views of European, North African, and American models in a variety of come-hither poses, many of which are copy prints; 13 vintage sample card composites: several frontal male nudes and studies of children; a handful of prints of cavorting nude couples; a few family photographs; and 2 hand-colored photogravures. Albumen, warm-toned printing-out paper, platinum, and silver prints, 9.5 x 7.5inches and smaller, many with numerical notations in the negative. Oblong 4to, black cloth; ties; contents crisp and clean. 1880s-1900 E3000-5000 An exceptional album both for the artful, sensual nature of the images and their pristine condition. All of the large-format nudes are naturally lit so as to heighten the inherent sensuality of the body's skin tones; indeed, some of the women actually appear to glow. Although these Bellocq-like photographs are unattributed, the maker was clearly a sopisticated artist, a connoisseur of the youthful female form, and probably an American master of nude iconography.