Walery (1863-1929) - Nude study, c.1920

Nude study, c.1920, gelatin silver print, handsigned W in black ink lower right (recto).
In good condition, one small tear on the left edge not affecting the image, one corner crease lower right, light trace of water verso. Please check the scans for details.

Waléry (the studio name Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg, also credited as “Lucien Waléry”/“Laryew”) was a leading society and celebrity portraitist of the Belle Époque, working in London and, from ca. 1900, Paris. He photographed royalty and stage stars and is especially prized for iconic images of Mata Hari and Josephine Baker, along with refined nude studies and Folies-Bergère publicity work. Examples are held by major institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery and Musée d’Orsay—making Waléry a blue-chip name for collectors of late-19th/early-20th-century portraiture.