The Magnificence of Madame Yevonde

Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake.  Even though the word "ye vonde" is visible in the right bottom corner of the image of the stunning gal in the red dress now appearing in my blog header, it was only after reading an article about 1930s fine art photographer Madame Yevonde in the first issue of the vintage magazine, Zelda, that I realized this image is an example of Yevonde's work!  In fact, it's from 1930 and it's called "A Fashion Study." A little more web research has yielded some more stunning glimpses at her work, including some portraiture, some commercial pieces, and some images which were part of a 1935 series she called The Goddesses collection (this series involved Yevonde having various 1930s socialites dress up as ancient mythological characters, like Helen of Troy, as shown in the bottom image). I did my MA about Victorian art photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and I'm noticing some really interesting parallels and lines of influence between Cameron's oeuvre and Yevonde's work, especially the Goddesses (maybe one day I'll even write an article about this).  Anyway, for more on  amazingly talented deco photographer, Madame Yevonde, including an explanation of the VIVEX color process responsible for the stunning hues apparent in her images, THIS site is worth checking out.

Untitled, Woman on Couch, 1933

Portrait of Unidentified Woman, 1937

Portrait of the Racing Driver Jill Thomas, 1938

Mrs. Charles Sweeny (Margaret, Duchess of Argyll) as Helen of Troy, 1935