Untitled c. 1890

Curator: Welcome. Before us, we see an "Untitled" gelatin silver print made around 1890 by Wilhelm von Gloeden. Currently, it is held at the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: It possesses such an introspective, melancholic mood. The soft light renders the sitter almost ethereally, as if glimpsed in a memory. Curator: Absolutely. Von Gloeden's masterful manipulation of light and shadow constructs a complex formal dialogue here. Note how the textures of the draped cloth contrast with the smoothness of the subject's skin. The tonal range achieves a depth rarely captured photographically at this time. Editor: That ethereal quality isn't accidental; it situates the work within Symbolist traditions. Consider how Von Gloeden’s images, staged with Sicilian youths, challenge prevailing notions of masculinity and the gaze of Western art, touching on complicated orientalist, queer themes. Curator: The composition, viewed solely on its own, is remarkable in its strategic organization of planes, the subject's inclined gaze moving our own in a particular diagonal trajectory from the hand and arm, to their face and out of the image frame. Editor: And who has the power here? The youths in von Gloeden’s photographs, sometimes posed semi-nude or in faux-classical settings, complicate our understanding. It speaks volumes of an historical fascination for these settings. The camera is never neutral. Curator: Your emphasis opens other important readings, I see, beyond merely focusing on what is visibly within the work itself. In that regard, it reminds me that such works offer new observations each time they are studied. Editor: Exactly. It’s important that we acknowledge the intricate relationship between image and context, how art, particularly photographs, have been used to both perpetuate and challenge power structures throughout history. This work is an entry point into many important cultural discussions still underway.