Wilhelm von Plüschow
Ecstasy
c. 1895
Albumen print
8.46 x 6.49 in (21.5 x 16.5 cm)
Courtesy of Galerie Au Bonheur du Jour, Paris
Wilhelm von Plüschow (b. 1852, Wismar, Germany – d. 1930, Berlin, Germany) created a body of homoerotic photographs depicting South Italian youths after moving there at the age of eighteen. He would often sign his works as “Guglielmo Plüschow.” The models, often adorned in antique attire and posed in ways recalling classical iconography, follow subjects similar to those found in the photographs of his cousin Wilhelm von Gloeden, whose works Untitled [Two Friends], 1904 and Untitled [Two Boys on a Rock], 1899 are featured in the collection.
In contrast to his cousin’s more classical poses, Wilhelm von Plüschow infuses his pictures with a greater sense of intimacy and narrative. In Ecstasy, the outdoor setting and the sepia-toned photograph, which leaves space for an illuminating bronze hue, are paradigmatic of the artist’s work. The lifting of the model’s gaze, seemingly unaware of the photographic apparatus, draws on the religious iconography of ecstasy—an altered state of consciousness marked by a profound connection to the divine. Such experiences of intense closeness to a deity appear across numerous religious traditions and are often accompanied by visions of holy figures, notably St. Teresa of Avila and St. Francis of Assisi in the Christian tradition and often represented in Italy.
After a series of legal setbacks with the Italian government who strongly opposed the representation of masculine nudes, von Plüshow returned to Germany after 1910. He died in Berlin in January 1930.
Provenance
Galerie Au Bonheur du Jour, Paris
Other works by Wilhelm von Plüschow
Wilhelm von Plüschow, View of Algiers, c. 1912
See also