Otto Wegener (20 January 1849, in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

– 4 February 1924, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a Swedish-born French

portrait photography Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective Photographic lighting, lighting, Painted photography backdrops, backdrops, and poses. A portr ...

Biography

He moved to Paris to open a photographic studio when he was eighteen. Where and how he learned photography is unknown. He quickly gained a reputation as a professional; specializing in photographs of cultural and entertainment personalities. He signed his works with "OTTO", in gold letters, to match the sign above the door of his studio. He eventually came to occupy four floors of the building. He taught photography to

Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke Prince Eugen of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Närke (Eugen Napoleon Nicolaus; 1 August 1865 – 17 August 1947) was a Swedish painter, art collector, and patron of artists. Background Prince Eugen was born at Drottningholm Palace as the fourt ...

of Sweden and

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...

was one of his assistants. He is most famous for his portraits of

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American-born dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. Bor ...

and

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

, who was also a friend, and

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

, who posed in 1893 as part of his preparation to become a candidate for membership in the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He participated in numerous exhibitions; in France and abroad. A fire at his studio in 1916 caused significant damage. Although he knew the photographer Eugène Pirou, he was never professionally associated with him, as is often mistakenly assumed. The error came about after the brothers, Georges and Oscar Mascré, began using Pirou's name without his permission, and later advertised themselves as "Otto-Pirou", in an obvious reference to Wegener. Although he was awarded two gold medals, he never mentioned them in his promotional materials. Most of his works were in "cabinet" format (14.5 x 10 cm) or larger. Very few are in the popular "

Carte de visite The ''carte de visite'' (, English: 'visiting card', abbr. 'CdV', pl. ''cartes de visite'') was a format of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero ...

" format. He had three sons, including Maurice Otto Wegener (1875-1918), an aspiring artist who reportedly died of physical and mental exhaustion, resulting from the war.Cf. ''

Le Temps ' (, ) is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. The paper was launched in 1998, formed out of the merger of two other newspapers, and (the former being a merger of two other papers), ...

'', 11 April 1918, p.4
Online
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Selected works

File:Photographies par Otto Wegener - Hôtel de vente Drouot - 2018 - 08.jpg, Boni de Castellane File:Photographies par Otto Wegener - Hôtel de vente Drouot - 2018 - 47.jpg,

Elisabeth of Bavaria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austria on 24 April 1854 until h ...

File:Otto Wegener Proust vers 1895 bis.jpg,

File:Paul Verlaine.jpeg,

File:Claude Debussy 1900.jpeg,

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

File:Photographies par Otto Wegener - Hôtel de vente Drouot - 2018 - 20.jpg,

Ida Rubinstein Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (; – 20 September 1960) was a dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure from the Russian Empire. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 and later formed her own company. ''Bolero (Rave ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegener, Otto 1849 births 1924 deaths French photographers Swedish emigrants to France People from Helsingborg