ART DECO CENTURY / STANISLAUS WALERY

 [Above]: A girl from the Follies Bergere, 1920 by Stanislaus Walery (1863-1935) from "NUS Cent Photographies Originales de Laryew: a complete portfolio" published by Librarie des Arts Decoratifs Paris, 1923. 

 Art Deco Century: The Nude as Fine Art in the 1920s–1930s 

In the 1920s and ’30s, nude female photography rose in popularity as a fine art genre, mirroring Art Deco’s aesthetic ideals of modernity, sensuality, and geometric form. 

The Art Deco movement had a well-documented “fascination with sensuality and luxury” [vam.ac.uk], and photographers embraced the unclothed female figure as a subject that blended classical beauty with modern artistic expression. 

Photographic nudes of this era were celebrated for their sleek elegance and idealized form, aligning with contemporary trends in sculpture and design. Artists presented the nude not as mere titillation but as an embodiment of modern art—where form itself became the focus, often abstracted or stylized. 

Stanislaus Walery (1863–1935) was a central figure in Art Deco-era nude photography. Working under the name Lucien Waléry (and the anagrammatic pseudonym “Laryew”), he produced an important folio of 100 photogravures titled Nus [above]: featuring Folies Bergère dancers in artful poses [invaluable.com en.wikipedia.org]. 

Walery’s style employed soft, flattering lighting and classical, statuesque poses that echoed antique sculpture. His models were arranged “like so many Art Deco caryatids,” and his elegant nudes are now recognized as masterpieces of Art Deco photography [invaluable.com]. These images epitomized idealized form and refined sensuality, presenting the female body as both modern and timeless. 

(The model in Walery’s “Gravure 40” photogravure (above) – sometimes speculated to be either actress Louise Brooks or Clara Bow – is more likely an anonymous Folies Bergère performer; neither Brooks nor Bow is known to have sat for Walery.) 

Walery even marketed his nude studies for “anatomy and art students” [en.wikipedia.org], underscoring their artistic and educational value in addition to public appeal. 

Art Deco Era Explorations by Weston and Man Ray Other photographers of the Modernist period also explored the undraped female figure as fine art. In the United States, Edward Weston created nude studies that emphasized pure form and organic design. Weston’s photographs of the 1920s—such as his studies of dancer Bertha Wardell and later Charis Wilson—were sharply focused and modern, reducing the body to fundamental shapes. His nude compositions often verged on abstraction; in fact, some of Weston’s nudes “began to resemble” the contorted shells and vegetables he famously photographed [en.wikipedia.org], highlighting the era’s pursuit of formal beauty. 

Man Ray's Le Violon d'Ingres (circa 1924) seen prior to the image becoming the highest paid photograph atauction [Christie's $12.4 million in 2022].

Meanwhile in Paris, Man Ray took a more avant-garde approach to the nude. His images of his muse Kiki de Montparnasse were imbued with Surrealist creativity – notably Le Violon d’Ingres (1924), in which he painted violin f-holes on Kiki’s back to transform her body into a living instrument [britannica.com]. Man Ray’s inventive lighting (e.g. solarization effects) and playful mixing of modern art with sensual subject matter exemplified the Art Deco zeitgeist of innovation fused with erotic elegance. 

Cultural Impact and Legacy: These Art Deco-era nude photographs enjoyed considerable public appeal in their time. They were circulated as limited-edition portfolios, postcards, and gallery prints, catering to both connoisseurs of art and a broader audience intrigued by the liberated imagery of the Jazz Age. 

The genre blurred the line between high art and popular culture: film stars like Louise Brooks even admitted to posing nude for art photography [en.wikipedia.org], reflecting a climate of relative openness and glamour. 

Ultimately, nude photography in the Art Deco period captured the spirit of a changing society – celebrating the modern woman’s body as a work of art, and marrying luxury, modernity, and sensual form in a way that resonated with the values of its era. The enduring appreciation of Walery’s folios and the works of Weston, Man Ray, and their contemporaries attests to the lasting cultural and artistic value of this genre. 

Edward Weston photograph, Oceano, 1936.