the quiet painful melancholy that permeated some of
her portraits of women as well as those of herself.
When her inheritance dwindled with the stock
market crisis of 1929, Henri explored the field of
commercial art and found that photography served
a profitable means of livelihood. She began photo-
graphing the luxury goods optimally featured in fash-
ion magazines. Among her clients were the perfumery
Lanvin, Au Bon Marche ́ department store, and
Columbia Records. She applied her brand of mod-
ernism by placing emphasis on the articles versus a
functional narrative. In an advertisement featuring
Selcroix table salt, Henri applied photomontage set-
ting the product against a seascape.
In her studio work for fashion advertising, Henri
understood the link between fashion and modernity
and the important role contemporary apparel played
in shaping a new female identity. Shooting from above
or at an angle, she contrasted bold geometric patterns
against the model’s form as part of the composition.
Likewise, Henri’s female nudes are thoroughly mod-
ern. Her figure and nude compositions evince a luxur-
iant sensuality set within a dream-like atmosphere.
Henri’s street photographs reveal her continued
search for form and composition. She sought out
nature, but the human form set within her nature
remained an abstract entity. She saw urban life in
terms of complex formal relationships that empha-
sized texture, structure, and chiaroscuro. In her vision
of urban scenes, such as life along the Seine, Henri
remained always analytic versus descriptive, empha-
sizing the spatial ambiguity of figure and ground.
During World War II, Henri, like Picasso, Georges
Braque, and Lhote among others, stayed in Paris. Her
intellectual and professional life was severely disrupted
by the dissolution of the artistic circles that had sup-
ported her creativity. Likewise, during the war her
photographic production was curtailed because
photography film and paper became scarce and
expensive. After the Nazi Occupation of France, pho-
tography was forbidden altogether. After the war,
Henri produced photographic portraits on occasion,
but primarily returned to painting. She also found a
new interest in quiltmaking to which she could apply
principles of modernism in color and design. Henri
died in 1982 in France, at a time when her consider-
able achievements were being recognized by a new
generation of photographic historians and collectors.
MARGARETDennySeealso:La ́szlo ́, Moholy-Nagy; Modernism; Mon-
tage; Multiple Exposures and Printing; Photogram;
Surrealism
Biography
Born June 28, 1893, New York, New York; naturalized Swiss
citizen. Moved between Silesia, London, Paris, and Rome
from the ages of two to 14 to live with family members
following the death of her mother (1895) and father (1907).
Studied piano in London at the Earl’s Court Road Con-
servatory under Percy Grainger (1905–1907). Studied piano
at the Conservatory of the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome
under mentor Ferruccio Busoni. (1907–1909) Performed
Grieg,Liszt,andFranckatconcertsinBechsteinHallin
London (1911). Studied music in Berlin (1912) with Egon
Petri and Ferruccio Busoni. Remained in Berlin during the
war. Discontinued playing piano; took up painting.
Attended Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and studied art in
Munich (1918–1920); in Berlin, studied at the atelier of
Johannes Walter-Kurau. Married briefly to Swiss Karl
Anton Koster (1924). Enrolled in summer session at Bau-
haus Dessau (1927). Studied with La ́szlo ́ Moholy-Nagy,
Vasily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee. Learned photographic
process and experimentation with Moholy-Nagy and his
wife Lucia Moholy. Moved to Paris and began an intense
period of photographic experimentation. (1927) Henri
photographs, two ball-and-mirror compositions and a self-
portrait, featured in Moholy-Nagy essay published in the
Dutch journali10(December 1928). Photographs exhibited
inFotografie de Gegenwart(Contemporary Photography) in
Museum Folkwang, Essen andFilm und Fotoin Stuttgart
and traveling. Introduced to Michel Seuphor and became
part of a small group of international avant-garde artists
and writers known as Cercle et Carre ́. Opened commercial
photographic studio and instructed students in photogra-
phy, Gise`le Freund among them. Entered into world of
commercial advertising illustration (1929). Died July 24,
1982, La Be ́rangeraie, Laboissie`re-en-Thelle (Oise), France.Individual Exhibitions
1930 Studio 28; Paris, France
1930 Galerie Laxer Norman; Paris, France
1933 Photoausstellung Florence Henri; Museum Folkwang
Essen, Essen, Germany (traveled to the Galerie La
Pleide; Paris, 1934)
1974 Galleria Martini & Ronchetti; Genoa, Italy
1975 Martini & Ronchetti Gallery; New York, New York
1976 Galleria Milano; Milan, Italy
Galleria Pan; Rome, Italy
M. L. D’Arc Gallery; New York, New York
1977 Galleria Martini & Ronchetti; Genoa, Italy
1978 University of Parma, Italy
Muse ́e d’Art Moderne de La Ville de Paris, France.
Galleria Narciso; Turin, Italy
1979 Galleria G7; Bologna, Italy
Aspetti di un Percorso, Banco di Chicari; Genoa, Italy
Villa Romana; Florence, Italy
The Photographers’ Gallery; London, England
1981 Florence Henri. 70 Photographies 1928–193; Muse ́e
d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva
1982 Florence Henri’s Vintage Photographic Work; Praka-
pas Gallery, New York
1987 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Fran-
cisco, CaliforniaHENRI, FLORENCE