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Arnold Genthe Photograph Collection

Call Number

PR 19

Date

[1895]-1942, (Bulk 1906-1927), inclusive

Creator

Genthe, Arnold, 1869-1942

Extent

33.34 Linear feet

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Arnold Genthe Photograph Collection primarily contains examples of Genthe's early work in San Francisco's Chinatown, later portraits of well-known personalities in the arts, politics, and society, classic photographs of Isadora Duncan and other early modern dancers, and both color and black-and-white landscapes of Long Island and Westchester, New York, and of international destinations such as Guatemala and Japan.

Biographical Note

Photographer Arnold Genthe (1869-1942) emigrated in 1895 from his native Germany to San Francisco, California. A doctoral student of classical philosophy in Germany, Genthe impulsively decided, on the cusp of an academic career, to take a position as a tutor in San Francisco for a year. He fell in love with the city and ended up settling there, teaching himself photography and quickly gaining recognition for his views of Chinatown street life. After 1906, he switched his artistic focus mainly to portraits circles.

Genthe's portrait photography really came into its own when he moved his studio to Manhattan in 1911. There he ran in society circles, with subjects and friends often one and the same. Some of the great theater and film actresses of the day appeared in his portraits (Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford, Julia Marlowe), as did socialites such as Mary Astor and artists and writers like Childe Hassam, Jack London, and Ezra Pound. Early modern dancers were a favorite subject of his as well, and he captured such pioneers as Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, and Anna Pavlowa as they pushed social and cultural boundaries.

Never married, Genthe was seen as something of a ladies' man - indeed, he seemed never to lack female subjects for his portraits, some photographed in states of undress that even now might be considered risqué. An early 20th-century cartoon by Haig Patigan shows Genthe with three young "Gibson Girls" and is titled "Herr Doctor Taking Peaches"; another illustration, by Maynard Dixon, shows Genthe behind the camera, seemingly working his magic on a young woman in a filmy gown. Yet Genthe was not known as a cad; he seemed to have a true appreciation of the beauty and intellect of women young and old alike. Once, when asked to name the most beautiful woman he had ever photographed, he surprised his questioner by telling him it was the actress Eleanora Duse - when she was 64.

Genthe's many travels (to Latin America, the Far East, and Europe, which he photographed as well), add to what seems to have been a charmed and exotic life. He published a number of books of photographs, including The Book of the Dance, Pictures of Old Chinatown, and Impressions of Old New Orleans. A friend once said to him, "You certainly are a queer duck - a Don Juan, a Hermit Monk, a Chinese Sage, a University Professor - all rolled into one." To this he replied: "Well, maybe. Of this I am sure: I have never been bored, and I daresay I have had as much out of life as is coming to any man."

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged in the following six series:

Missing Title

  1. Series I: San Francisco Chinatown
  2. Series II: Portraits
  3. Series III: Landscapes
  4. Series IV: Dancers
  5. Series V: Cats
  6. Series VI: Negatives

Scope and Content Note

The Arnold Genthe Photograph Collection spans the period from approximately 1895 to 1942 and primarily contains examples of Genthe's early work in San Francisco's Chinatown, later portraits of well-known personalities in the arts, politics, and society, classic photographs of Isadora Duncan and other early modern dancers, and both color and black-and-white landscapes of Long Island and Westchester, New York, and of international destinations such as Guatemala and Japan. The collection is divided into the following series: San Francisco Chinatown; Portraits; Landscapes; Dancers; Cats; and Negatives. Many of the prints are on Genthe's original mounts; about one-third are signed by Genthe and/or carry his studio label. When Genthe has given a photograph a title, that title is used. Otherwise, N-YHS has assigned a descriptive title, which appears in brackets, or has used the last and first names of the sitter for those portraits that are identified.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to ten exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.) Researchers on site may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at per-exposure rates. See guidelines in Reading room for details.

Use Restrictions

Permission to quote from this collection in a publication must be requested and granted in writing. Send permission requests, citing the name of the collection from which you wish to quote and a transcription of your quote, to

Library Director
The New-York Historical Society
Two West 77th Street
New York, NY 10024

The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Arnold Genthe Photograph Collection, PR 019, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Provenance

A purchase, in 1943, from the estate of Arnold Genthe accounts for the bulk of the collection. Several prints of unknown provenance were donated at some point in the latter half of the 20th century to the New-York Historical Society. The Library of Congress donated the collection of nitrate and glass negatives to the N-YHS in 1954 and 1957.

Related Material

The bulk of the photographs and negatives found in Genthe's studio at his death are now at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Several thousand negatives are also housed at the Museum of the City of New York. Many museums and libraries around the country, including the California Historical Society, have prints by Genthe.

Collection processed by

Chris Borris

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:24 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from genthe.xml

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024