This vintage real photo postcard features Harriet Sofie Bosse (1878-1961) who was an actress of Swedish/Norwegian background. Her father was a German publisher who for business reasons moved his family a number of times back and forth between Oslo (Norway) and Stockholm (Sweden). Harriet was the thirteenth of fourteen children in her family. Two of her sisters were performers. She was well known for her acting but also for being the third wife of playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her acting career in a company run by her older sister in Oslo. She developed a problem with this sister (Alma) when the sister discovered that Harriet was having an affair with her husband. Harriet clearly had a boundary problem. After appearing at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm, she was noticed by Strindberg. He was enamored with her acting ability as well as her exotic “oriental” appearance. The pair were married in 1901; he was 52 years old and she was just 21. The marriage was short and volatile. Strindberg had a history of a jealousy problem that some considered to be actual paranoia. In 1908 Bosse married Swedish actor Anders Gunnar Wingard and later had a third marriage to movie idol Edvin Adolphson in 1927. Her second and third marriages both ended in divorce after just a few years. After retiring from acting, in the midst of World War II, she returned to Oslo. This postcard photograph was taken by Ferdinand Flodin (1863-1935). He was a Swedish photographer who operated a studio in Stockholm. He was well known for his portrait work, especially of theatrical performers. He was educated in the United States from 1883 to 1887. For the next two years he ran a photography gallery in Worcester, Massachusetts. He then returned to Sweden. In 1906 he became secretary of the Swedish Photogaphers Association, a post he held nine years. This postcard was published by Axel Eliasson’s Art Publishers. The publishing house was founded in 1890 and the Stockholm company was the leading producer of postcards in Sweden for many years. A number of Ferdinand Flodin’s cabinet card photographs that were produced at his Massachusetts studio can be seen in the Cabinet Card Gallery. To view these images click on the category “Photographer: Flodin”. SOLD
Self-Portrait of Ferdinand Flodin
This Cabinet Card presents a bit of a mystery. The photograph is by famed French photographer, P. Nadar of Paris. The subject of the photograph is a mystery. The reverse of the card has the name “Ilbert” written in two places. In addition the word “Chanteuse” also appears. Is she an opera singer? Is she a nightclub singer? The woman is very stylish and is wearing a fur and interesting hair clip. Hopefully, a viewer will leave a comment with some identifying information. ADDENDUM: This photograph entered into the cabinet card gallery in 2009. Since then there have been a number of cabinet card gallery visitors that have left comments concerning the identity of the subject of this image. There has been some disagreement, but at least two visitors have identified this performer as being Yvette Guilbert (1867-1944). To follow the discussion about identification, check out the comment section below. Now back to Mlle Guilbert. Born as Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, she began singing as a child but worked at a Paris department store model when she turned sixteen. She also took acting and voice lesson and in 1886 she began working as an actress. She debuted at the Variette Theatre in 1888. She was soon singing at a number of popular clubs before starring in Montmartre at the Moulin Rouge in 1890. Over time she began to sing a lot of monologue “patter songs”. Often the lyrics were risque, even raunchy. Her song frequently featured tragedy and poverty. Guilbert was audacious and audiences ate it up. She was celebrated in France, England and the United States. She was a favorite subject of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made many portraits and caricatures of Guilbert. Later in her career, she appeared in silent movies, talkies and made recordings. She also wrote books about the Belle Epoque. It is interesting to note that Nadar, the photographer of the mystery chanteuse also photographed Yvette Guilbert. A Nadar photograph of Mlle Guilbert is part of the collection at the National Library of France. A copy of that image can be found below.
