Ada Lundberg

This image is called Ada Lundberg, and it is found within The Yellow Nineties in the art section on page 222. This image is a very intimate pictorial representation of the audience watching a Music Hall performer ‘Ada Lundberg”. The photo is showing doe-eyed men, staring at the stage, and is a direct representation of the male gaze. This image works to reinforce the gender differences between the audience and the performer. This image reveals the relationship between female spectacle and the male onlookers.  There seem to be men looking at the woman who is in the foreground of the photo. Her face is white and pale, demonstrating tones and shadows, as well as depth to the photo. This photo similar to the others because it is made from a sketch, and it is then turned into a print. The group of men in the photo is called a ‘claque’, they gave the actress fame and a following – which was more common in the French tradition. The inclusion of the audience works to legitimize these people, humanizing them by showing their faces and expressions, but also allowing the viewer of the images to connect with their on-lookers in the image. 

This print is situated with two other prints from Sickert which contribute to a larger collection of Music Hall theater art. It is fairly evident that Sickert was seeking to add the drama from the theater into his images and to offer a movement and fluidity of performances into his images. 

 

Works Cited

Rough, William W. “Walter Richard Sickert and the Theatre, C.1880-C.1940.” University of St Andrews, September, 2010. 

Sickert, Walter. “Ada Lundberg.” The Yellow Book 2 (July 1894): 225. The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2010. Web. [Date of access]. http://1890s.ca/HTML.aspx?s=YB2_sickert_ada_lundberg.html

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