Dora Philippine Kallmus (20 March 1881 – 28 October 1963), also known as Madame D'Ora or Madame d'Ora, was an Austrian fashion and portrait photographer.[1]
Dora Kallmus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Dora Philippine Kallmus 20 March 1881 |
| Died | 28 October 1963 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Other names | Madame D'Ora Madame d'Ora |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Known for | Society and fashion photography |
Early life edit
Dora Philippine Kallmus was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1881 to a Jewish family. Her father was a lawyer.[2] Her sister, Anna, was born in 1878 and deported in 1941 during the Holocaust. Although her mother, Malvine (née Sonnenberg), died when she was young, her family remained an important source of emotional and financial support throughout her career.[1]
She and her sister, Anna, were both "well-educated," spoke English and French, and played the piano. They had also traveled throughout Europe.[3]
She became interested in the photography field while assisting the son of the painter Hans Makart, and in 1905 she was the first woman to be admitted to theory courses at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (Graphic Training Institute).[4] That same year she became a member of the Association of Austrian photographers.[1] At that time she was also the first woman allowed to study theory at the Graphischen Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt, which in 1908 granted women access to other courses in photography.
Career edit
In 1907, she established her own studio with Arthur Benda in Vienna called the Atelier d’Ora or Madame D'Ora-Benda. The name was based on the pseudonym "Madame d'Ora", which she used professionally. D'ora and Benda operated a summer studio from 1921 to 1926 in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, and opened another gallery in Paris in 1925.[5] The Karlsbad gallery allowed D'Ora to cater to the "international elite vacationers." These same clients later convinced her to open her Paris studio.[3]
Between 1917 and 1927, D'Ora's studio "produced" photographs for Ludwig Zwieback & Bruder, a Viennese department store.[3]
She was represented by Schostal Photo Agency (Agentur Schostal)[6] and it was her intervention that saved the agency's owner after his arrest by the Nazis, enabling him to flee to Paris from Vienna.[7]
Her subjects included Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Tamara de Lempicka, Alban Berg, Maurice Chevalier, Colette, and other dancers, actors, painters, and writers.
Personal life edit
In 1919, D’Ora converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism. She died on 28 October 1963.[1] Four years prior, she had sustained injuries after being hit by a motorcycle in Paris, resulting in her returning to Vienna.[8] D'ora lived her final years and passed in the same house that had been forcibly sold under the Nazis before being returned to her family.[9]
Exhibits edit
- 2012/13: Vienna's Shooting Girls – Jüdische Fotografinnen aus Wien, Jewish Museum Vienna, Austria[10]
- 2018: Madame d’Ora. Machen Sie mich schön!, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria[11]
- 2019/20: Der große Bruch: d'Oras Spätwerk, GrazMuseum, Graz, Austria[12]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Silverman, Lisa (31 December 1999). "Madame d'Ora". The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- ^ "Camera". 1980.
- ^ a b c Silverman, Lisa (2013-10-15), "Ella Zirner-Zwieback, Madame d'Ora, and Vienna's New Woman", Fashioning Jews, Purdue University Press, pp. 77–98, doi:10.2307/j.ctt6wq397.11, retrieved 2022-03-22
- ^ Lothar Schirmer (2001). Women Seeing Women, A Pictorial History of Women's Photography. NY: Norton. p. 218.
- ^ "Madame D'ora - Pictures, Photography, Photo Art Online at LUMAS". LUMAS. Avenso. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
- ^ Rebecca Madamba (2008) The Schostal Agency: A Finding Aid for the Schostal Agency Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Thesis of the Honours Bachelors of Arts, Studies in Arts and Culture, Concentration in Curatorial Studies, Brock University.
- ^ Milena Grief, "Agentur Schostal: Mit den Fotos Kehrt die Erinnerung zurück." Rundbrief Fotografie 9, no. 2. (June 2002), 30 - 33
- ^ Faber, Monika; Frecot, Janos; York, Neue Galerie New; Albertina, Graphische Sammlung (2005). Portraits of an Age: Photography in Germany and Austria, 1900-1938. ISBN 9783775715645.
- ^ "A Hoofer in the Slaughterhouse". Tablet Magazine. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- ^ "Vienna's Shooting Girls. Jewish Women Photographers from Vienna | Jüdisches Museum Wien". www.jmw.at. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
- ^ "MAKE ME LOOK BEAUTIFUL, MADAME D'ORA! | Archive | EXHIBITIONS | Leopold Museum". www.leopoldmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
- ^ "Der große Bruch". Grazmuseum (in German). Retrieved 2020-03-08.
Sources edit
- The History of European Photography 1900–1938, FOTOFO., 2011. ISBN 978-80-85739-55-8
Further reading edit
- Faber, Monica. (1987) Madame d'Ora: Vienna and Paris, 1907–1957, the Photography of Dora Kallmus. Vassar College. ISBN 978-0-916663-02-5.
External links edit
Media related to Madame d'Ora at Wikimedia Commons- Photographer - D'Ora, Luminous-Lint
