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Dolores del Rio

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

c. 1940

Artist:

George Hoyningen-Huene
American, born Russia, 1900–1968

About this artwork

George Hoyningen-Huene moved to Paris in 1920 and joined the city’s rich cultural life, making friends with avant-garde artists and working odd jobs before finding a steady position as a fashion illustrator for French Vogue. When the magazine opened its first photographic studio in 1926, Huene was responsible for drawing backdrops, but was quickly reassigned to make photographs instead. His fashion photographs tended toward a classicized, reassuring Surrealism that often portrayed the (female) body in unfamiliar views or included sculpture as props. The disembodied head of Dolores del Rio, a Mexican-born silent film star, serves here as a sort of sculpture in itself, resting on a table and crowned by a flowered cap that recalls a laurel wreath. Huene, who greatly admired del Rio, remarked of her features as a model, “The bone structure of her head and body is magnificent. Her skin is like ripe fruit.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

George Hoyningen-Huene

Title

Dolores del Rio

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1935–1945

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/paper: 33.7 × 25.9 cm (13 5/16 × 10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Photography Associates Fund

Reference Number

2001.71

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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