Rita de Acosta Lydig

Adolf de Meyer

1917 · Platinum print · Photographs

De Meyer’s portrait of the socialite, art patron, “shoe queen,” and suffragette Rita de Acosta Lydig is striking in its simplicity of tone and contour. The image, which appeared in Vogue in 1917, resonates with the classical elegance epitomized in the paintings of society portraitists John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, who also depicted this so-called alabaster lady.

Artist

Adolf de Meyer

Date

1917

Medium

Platinum print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gift of Mercedes de Acosta, 1952