BARON ADOLPH DE MEYER
American, born French
Adolph (or Adolf) de Meyer, first a highly influen-
tial Pictorialist photographer, later a renowned
fashion photographer, magazine editor, and taste-
maker, cultivated an enigmatic persona. Many
details of his life are obscure because he deliberately
fabricated them. He even varied the style and spel-
ling of his name, augmenting the uncertainties
about his unusual life. According to the memoirs
of the painter Jacques-E ́mile Blanche, Adolf Meyer
was born in the Paris suburb of Auteuil of a Jewish
mother and a Scottish father named Watson.
Others said the father was German and that the
family name was Von Meyer; alternatively, Cecil
Beaton claimed that de Meyer was born in Austria.
Yet other sources suggested a Finnish lineage. The
1905 Who’s Whostates that Adolf Edward Sigis-
mond de Meyer, a baron of the kingdom of Saxony,
was born in Paris, the son of Adolphus Meyer and
Adele Watson. In a 1915 interview, de Meyer
claimed that his father was Russian.
Adolf Meyer-Watson was raised in Paris by his
mother, then studied in Germany at a time when
photography was being energized both by techni-
cal advances and an increasingly dynamic and
sophisticated artistry, on view in photographic
salons and exhibitions. As a young man he was
deeply inspired by the lifestyle and work of the
painter James McNeill Whistler, and became
accepted into high society largely because of his
personal beauty, style, and manners and was both
an example of and an exponent of the cult of
beauty. Some have observed similarities between
de Meyer and Marcel Proust’s fictional Swann, in
being both half-Jewish and a member of ‘‘cafe
society’’ whose devotion to the ‘‘chic’’ was almost
a religion. Panache, glamour, chic, and snobbery
were born in a changing society in which aristo-
crats, artists, and celebrities intermingled.
De Meyer gained entry to the British royal circle
(and photographed King Edward VII and his
family), largely through his wife Olga Caracciolo,
whom he married in either 1896, 1897, or possibly
1899, and who was the godchild of the king—if not
also his illegitimate daughter. De Meyer’s marriage
to Olga was reputedly unconsummated and platonic;
he may in fact have been encouraged to marry
because, in the wake of the Oscar Wilde scandal
and the Dreyfus affair, he sought to disguise his
homosexuality and his Jewish background, both of
which had become unpopular and risky liabilities.
Olga’s mother was the Duchessa de Caracciolo and
it was thought that the Prince of Wales, who became
King Edward VII, was her father, as they were often
seen together. De Meyer was granted the title of
baron by the King of Saxony so that he and Olga
could attend the coronation of Edward as members
of the nobility.
Olga inspired him to learn from some of the great
painters, and he was especially influenced by the
Symbolists. The de Meyers were wealthy, sophisti-
cated members of cafe ́society who had homes in
Paris, London, Constantinople, Venice, and even-
tually New York City. Olga had been preceded as
de Meyer’s patron, favorite model, and close friend
by Constance Gladys, Lady de Grey, who had
helped introduce him to London society.
In 1898, de Meyer joined the Linked Ring
Brotherhood. Beginning in 1903, he exhibited at
their London Salon. Eventually he became bored
with the group and helped form the Vienna Seces-
sion. During these formative years he enjoyed the
friendships of a number of important photogra-
phers, especially Edward Steichen and Gertrude
Ka ̈sebier, and it appears that the latter had a sig-
nificant influence on his work. Other photograph-
ic friends included Frances Benjamin Johnston
and Alvin Langdon Coburn. He corresponded
with Alfred Stieglitz, and they enjoyed an intellec-
tual and artistic intimacy.
In a 1906 letter to Alfred Stieglitz he insisted on
showing his work only in solo rather than group
exhibitions. Stieglitz published some of his work as
photogravures inCamera Work, and reproductions
of his color Autochromes could be found inThe
Studio. In 1909, after years of letters and business
interaction, the two finally met. Although he had
been praised by Cecil Beaton for his soft-focus
Pictorialism, he told Stieglitz that he believed in
‘‘straight’’ photography, especially in the form of
platinum and silver prints. Although he was briefly
fascinated with the Autochrome process shortly
after its 1907 introduction and exhibited his workDE MEYER, BARON ADOPLH