DER AKT The Nude ~ Koch & Rieth Portfolio 1895

German rarity Der Act (aka Der Akt) an early portfolio of 100 male and female photographic nude studies published in Leipzig: M.Bauer International Kunstverlag,1895. The creators of this masterpiece drew upon classical academic figure studies for some of their compositions, inserting nude figures as sculptural elements in architectural columns. The impact of the nude figures was multiplied in many of the photographs with the use of mirrors. 

The handful posted here are representative of a group of about twenty plates that passed through my hands and into those of my clients 20 years ago. Otherwise, not previously seen or owned any of these very usual, avant-garde nudes from the end of the 19th century.

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