A Collection Vintage Photos Feat. Amazing Ballerina Ida Rubinstein

Ida Rubinstein (1883-1960) was a famous Russian ballerina, actress, patron and Belle Époque figure.

As an idol of the fin de siècle, she was renowned for her beauty, mimetic powers and enormous wealth. She was a significant patron and she tended to commission works that suited her abilities, works that mixed dance with drama and stagecraft.

She was born in Kharkiv (Ukraine) and was orphaned at an early age. The family was wealthy, cultured and Russified, a merchant-banking clan that had moved up the social ranks; her father’s title, Hereditary Honorary Citizen, conferred gentry status.

She made her debut in 1908 in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé. The part brought her to the attention of Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929), who included her in the earliest Paris seasons of his celebrated Ballets Russes.

She was not in the top tier of ballerinas; she began her training too late for that to have been a possibility. Because of her limited dance training, she was cast in “mime” roles such as Cleopatra (1909) and Ta-Hor in Schéhérazade (1910), which capitalized on her dark, exotic looks and stunning stage presence. Both ballets were choreographed by Fokine, and designed by Léon Bakst. Her partner in Scherazade was the great Nijinsky. Rubinstein left the Ballets Russes in 1911.

By the 1920s she had become a grande dame of the French theatre. In 1928 Rubinstein formed her own dance company, using her inherited wealth, and commissioned several lavish productions. Her last performance was in the play Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher in Paris, 1939.

In 1940 she left France during the German invasion, and made her way to England via Algeria and Morocco. She later returned to France, living finally at Les Olivades at Vence, where she lived in strict seclusion, reading the Bible and occasionally visiting the Abbey of Cîteaux. She died in 1960 and was buried nearby.

Ida Rubinstein, 1912 via

Ida Rubinstein via

Ida Rubinstein, Antoine and Cleopatre, 1920 via

Ida Rubinstein in the Ballets Russes production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Scheharazade’, 1910 via

Ida Rubinstein, 1922 via

Ida Rubinstein with a baby leopard by Otto Wegener, via

Ida Rubinstein by Otto Wegener, via

Ida Rubinstein by Otto Wegener, via

Ida Rubinstein, 1920s via

Coco Chanel & Misia Sert in Venice (1925)

Coco Chanel, Misia Sert And Mme Philippe Berthelot On The Beach, Lido Venice, 1925 via

A Collection of Vintage Photos feat. Lya de Putti

Lya De Putti (1897 – 1931) was a Hungarian film actress of the silent era, noted for her portrayal of vampcharacters.

She began her stage career on the Hungarian Vaudeville circuit. She soon progressed to Berlin, where after performing in the ballet, she made her screen debut in 1918. She became the premiere danseuse at the Berlin Winter Garden in 1924.

Around that time German film director Jol Mai noticed her and cast her in her first important film, The Mistress of the World. She followed this success with noteworthy performances in Manon Lescaut and Varieté (1925).

The actress came to America in February 1926. At the time she told reporters she was twenty-two years old. Her ocean liner’s records list her as having been twenty-six. De Putti was generally cast as a vamp character, and often wore her dark hair short, in a style similar to that of Louise Brooks or Colleen Moore.

Lya De Putti via

Lya De Putti via

Lya De Putti in The Prince of Tempters, 1926 via

Lya De Putti by Alexander Binder for the film Manon Lescaut, 1926, UFA Universum-Film via

A Collection of Vintage Portraits by Edward Thayer Monroe

Edward Thayer Monroe was born in Jamestown, New York, in 1890, into a family of photographers. His grandfather, Myron C. Monroe, pioneered wet-plate photography, recording Civil War scenes and shooting the first American images of Jenny Lind for P.T. Barnum. E.T. Monroe turned down the opportunity to attend Yale University, choosing a technical education instead. He received extensive practical training at a photographic processing plant in Syracuse and opened a home studio. In October 1914, the Dinturff Company of Syracuse hired him as “artistic portrait photographer” and his prints began circulating among magazine editors in the Northeast.

Louise Brooks by Edward Thayer Monroe via

Dorothy Stone by Edward Thayer Monroe via

Helen Lee Worthing by Edward Thayer Monroe, 1922 via

Anastasia Reilly (Ziegfeld Follies) by Edward Thayer Monroe via

Nita Naldi by Edward Thayer Monroe, 1925 via

Mary Nolan by Edward Thayer Monroe via

Ann Pennington by Edward Thayer Monroe via

Vintage Brides by London Photographers Lafayette (1920s)

H H Short by Lafayette Ltd., 179 New Bond Street, London, 11 August 1924

Miss Rennie [unidentified], Lafayette Ltd., 179 New Bond Street, London, 1925 via

Mrs Folds [needs identification], Lafayette Ltd., 179 New Bond Street, London, 29 october 1926 via

A Collection of Photos Feat. Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia (1895-1970)

Princess Irina Alexandrovna (1895-1970) was a niece of Tzar Nicholas. She was a daughter of his sister Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duke Alexander. Before her marriage, Irina was considered one of the most eligible women in Imperial Russia.

In 1914 she married Felix Yussupov the wealthiest man in Imperial Russia, one of the men who later murdered Grigori Rasputin in 1916. He was an unexpected bridegroom, amongst other things, he was bisexual and an occasional crossdresser. Not that this mattered. The couple enjoyed a very happy marriage that lasted fifty-three years until his death in 1967. They spent most of their lives living in Paris devoting much energy to Russian relief work.

Princess Irina Alexandrovna on her wedding day, wearing her mother’s veil and the Cartier tiara that was a present from her bridegroom, 1914 via

Princess Irina Alexandrovna, ca. 1924 via

Princess Irina Alexandrovna via

Princess Irina Alexandrovna via

Australian socialite Molly Fink (Wife of the Rajah of Pudukkottai)

Molly Fink (1894 – 1967) was an Australian socialite and wife of Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman, the Raja of the princely state of Pudukkottai. The marriage created a public scandal and resulted in the ostracization of the couple and their only son Martanda Sydney Tondaiman.

From 1922 to 1927 Martanda and Molly lived in Cannes where they bought a villa called La Favourite. At Cannes, Molly developed friendship with Elsa Maxwell,Cecil Beaton, Nancy Beaton, Lord Donegal, Lady Houston and William Locke. The couple frequented social events and held dinner parties. Martanda died at Parison 28 May 1928 at the age of fifty-three.

Following Martanda’s death, Molly’s finances began to dwindle. She sold La Favourite and purchased a house at Mayfair, London where she lived with her son, Sydney.

The Aga Khan proposed to her soon after Martanda’s death, but she rejected his proposal. In her later years, Molly remained aloof and began drinking heavily. She was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 1967. Molly died in Cannes on 22 November 1967 at the age of seventy-three.

Molly Fink via

Molly Fink by Cecil Beaton via

 

Molly Fink and the Rajah via