Peter Hujar · Ethyl Eichelberger

Peter Hujar (1934-1987) ~ Ethyl Eichelberger as Nefertiti (II), 1979 | src Art Basel
Peter Hujar (1934-1987) ~ Ethyl Eichelberger as Nefertiti (III), 1979 | src Fraenkel gallery
Peter Hujar (1934-1987) ~ Ethyl Eichelberger as Nefertiti, 1979 | src Sotheby’s

Girl and butterfly by Lord Carnarvon

Detail from: Girl and butterfly, ca. 1915 by George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (also, Lord Carnarvon)
Earl of Carnarvon (1866-1923) ~ Girl and butterfly, ca. 1915. Royal photographic society coll. | src getty images
Earl of Carnarvon (1866-1923) ~ Girl and butterfly, ca. 1915. Royal photographic society coll., V&A museum

Tänzerin Maja Lex (1906 ─ 1986)

The dancer Maja Lex. Günther-Schule, 1920s | src Carl Orff Stiftung

In Munich, Maja Lex was first a student member but soon, together with Gunild Keetmann and the founders Dorothee Günther and Carl Orff, belonged to the leading teaching staff of the Günther-Schule, a forward-looking school with a trebly diversified training concept of integrative musical and movement education. War events disrupted this unique constellation of artistic and educational personalities.

Maja  Lex developed a new movement and dance education of a timeless pedagogic and artistic value. She liberated herself from the formalized practice/exercise/training and introduced instead the varied movements of rhythmic-dynamic, spatial and formal variation. Structured improvisation, similar to musical improvisation, was established as a definite component of the teaching lesson.

As a solo dancer and choreographer of Tanzgruppe Günther, Maja Lex was a pioneer of the New German Dance (Neuer Deutscher Tanz) in the 1930s. She created a specific dancing style of a ‘thrilling rhythmic intensity’, a definite feeling for form and a high technical dancing discipline. Music and dance became elements of equal value, not least because of the use of rhythm instruments for the dance and for the orchestra of Günther-Schule, where dancers and musicians changed roles. The director of the orchestra was Gunild Keetmann. Maja Lex’s dances belong to the absolute dance. / quoted from Elementarer Tanz

German dancer and choreographer Maja Lex, 1931 | src alamy
Maja Lex. Günther Schule, München, 1924 (Fotografer/in unbekannt) | src Bassenge Auktion 121
Portrait of Maja Lex (1906 ─ 1986), 1920s | src Elementarer Tanz

From 1927, Maja Lex performed her own choreographies. As a soloist and choreographer of the Tanzgruppe Günther-München (lead by Dorothee Günther), she made her decisive breakthrough in 1930 with the “Barbarian Suite” in collaboration with the musical director of the group, the composer Gunild Keetman. Numerous guest performances and awards at home and abroad followed until the school was forcibly closed in 1944 and finally destroyed in 1945.

Maja Lex, who had been very ill since the beginning of the 1940s, moved to Rome in 1948 and lived there together with Dorothee Günther in the house of her mutual friend Myriam Blanc. At the beginning of the 1950s Maja Lex resumed her artistic-pedagogical work and taught at the German Sport University Cologne at the invitation of Liselott Diem. From the mid-1950s until 1976, she taught the main training subject “Elementary Dance” as a senior lecturer. The concept of elementary dance was further developed by her and later in collaboration with her successor Graziela Padilla at the German Sports University Cologne. / quoted from queer places

Charlotte Rudolph (1896-1983) ~ The German dancer and choreographer Maja Lex, ca. 1930 | src alamy
Siegfried Enkelmann ~ Maja Lex. Günther-Schule, ca. 1930 | src alamy
Maja Lex. Ross Verlag Postcard 755 A (Foto: Siegfried Enkelmann, Berlin) | src eBay
Charlotte Rudolph (1896-1983) ~ The German dancer and choreographer Maja Lex, ca. 1930 | src alamy
Maja Lex (1906 ─ 1986) Günther-Schule, München, um 1924 | src Elementarer Tanz
Maja Lex (1906 – 1986) in the front cover of Der Tanz (photo by Umbo), Dez. 1935 | src alamy

Ruth Page in ballet Scaffolding

Maurice Goldberg ~ Ruth Page in a photo from her 1929 performance in “Ballet Scaffolding” (Prokofiev) | src Newberry library
Maurice Goldberg (1881-1949) ~ Dancer Ruth Page in Ballet Scaffolding, 1928. Bromide print | src Ahlers & Ogletree
Ruth Page was known for pushing artistic boundaries, which is coming through loud & clear in this photo from her 1929 performance in “Ballet Scaffolding” (Prokofieff) | src Newberry library
Maurice Goldberg (1881-1949) ~ Studio shot of dancer in costume, from solo by Ruth Page entitled Ballet Scaffolding, 1928. Bromide print | src Ahlers & Ogletree

Varvara Rodchenko by Rodchenko

Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) ~ Mulya. (Varvara Rodchenko), 1939 | src ODLP & MAMM
From the exhibition «Elapsed Time» (2019). Varvara Rodchenko (1939)
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) ~ The Wild Flowers (Полевые цветы), (Portrait of daughter, Varvara), 1937
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) ~ The Wild Flowers, (Portrait of daughter, Varvara), 1937 | src ODLP & MAMM
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) ~ Portrait of daughter, Varvara, 19397 | src ODLP & MAMM
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) ~ The Wild Flowers, (Portrait of daughter, Varvara), 1937 | src centre zotov
Varvara Rodchenko (1925-2019), 1941 / Essay / Evacuation / Photo by A.M. Rodchenko
Tomboy [Сорванец], 1934. Photo by E.A. Lemberg (Print of A.M. Rodchenko) Gelatin silver print | src ODLP & MAMM
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) ~ The Wild Flowers, (Portrait of daughter, Varvara), 1937 | src HA

All images sourced ODLP and/or MAMM were retrieved from:

ODLP : l’oeil de la photographie / the eye of photography

MAMM : Multimedia Art Museum : Elapsed Time

Portait by Cecil Beaton · 1930

Cecil Beaton ~ Marianna van Rensselaer in Charles James hat, 1930 © Cecil Beaton studio archive & Huxley-Parlour gallery | src ODLP ~ l’œil de la photographie

Mrs. Freeman-Thomas by Beaton

Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) ~ Mrs Freeman-Thomas, 1928 © the Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s
Wearing a racing “fashion of the far future”: The Hon. Mrs. Freeman-Thomas at The Dream of the Fair Women Ball (photo: Bertram Park)

The Pageant of Past, Present and Future Fashions was held on 29th February 1928 (Leap Year Night) at Claridge’s (London) in aid of the Winter Distress League. The costumes for the dresses of the (far) future were designed by Cecil Beaton. The image above shows Ms. Freeman-Thomas in an outfit titled ‘The Ascot Dress of the Future’.

Detail from Mrs Freeman-Thomas by Cecil Beaton (formerly Miss Blossom Forbes-Robertson), 1928