MATA HARI

Very rare original portrait of Mata Hari, gelatin silver print on a mount stamped Gigi Bassani & C. studio, Milan, via Passarella, 20.
“Cerasola & Giaconessi" stamped on the lower right of the mount. Corners slightly dulled, to the curtain. Trace of adhesive on verso.
Portraits of Mata Hari in this format are extremely rare, we are not able to trace any similar photograph in the last decade's trade records. This one is notably absent from the photo album compiled by Mata Hari herself and kept at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden.
This full-length portrait of the 20th century's most famous spy was taken in Milan at the height of her dancing career, in 1911 or 1912. In early 1911, she performed at the famous La Scala theater after seven and a half years of appearances in Parisian salons and music halls. She performed one of her most famous numbers, the interlude from the 5^th act of Glück's Aramide directed by the legendary Tullio Serafin. Shortly afterwards, La Scala invited her back as "Black Venus" in Romualdo Morenco's modern ballet Bacchus et Cambrinus, where she danced covered in pearls and wearing her famous beaded metallic bra. The dancer was coveted throughout Europe and received the honors of Puccini and Massenet. In a letter to her impresario Gabriel Astruc, she talks about these performances at La Scala as an important step towards joining the Ballets Russes to achieve reputation as a legitimate opera and ballet dancer: "You will receive a visit from Mr. Mingardi, director of La Scala in Milan, who is offering me an engagement. I very much wish to accept this while waiting for Mr. [Léon] Bakst to do his creations... Show him my documents and represent my interests ... Mata-Hari". Her dream of joining Diaghilev's famous company never came true. That same year in 1911, she failed the audition before the costume designer Bakst – filling in for the Russian choreographer who did not deign to see her dance.
This fabulous full-length portrait shows her in splendid furs; legend states that she dressed for her execution in a fine mink coat over her nude dancer's flesh. She is seen wearing an almost identical coat as this photograph in a portrait taken at the racecourse during the Prix de Longchamp in 1911.
A spellbinding portrait of the Eastern high priestess of the Belle Epoque taken at the height of her dancing career.