Above: Framed in original blue gesso frame

Above: Detail of Aphrodite “The Siren of the Sea”

Above: The photgraphers signature and frame profile

A rare surviving Edward Sheriff Curtis nude titled “Aphrodite (Spirit of the Sea)” circa 1920s- 30s, a blue-toned gelatin silver photograph. Signed with the Curtis LA copyright insignia in the negative on the image, accompanied by the original frame backing stamped Aphrodite, Curtis Studio, Los Angeles. One of 3 blue nudes Curtis did towards the end of his career and a coveted rare old original photograph.

Above: Photographers mark

Above: Verso inkstamp

Above: Full view of Photgraph

Edward S. Curtis had a portrait studio in Seattle in the 1890s. Curtis’ brother Asahel kept the Curtis Studio open in Seattle after Edward began the North American Indians project around 1901. After he finished the project in 1927, he suffered a mental and physical breakdown and moved to Denver to recuperate.
After 1930, Curtis only produced a handful of new photographs. Usually in the original, blue Curtis Studio frames, these photographs included blue-toned silver gelatin images of actors from Ben Hur and Tarzan, and three nudes: Aphrodite, Sunset Trail, and Castle of Dreams.
In a fine state of conservation with silvering in the emulsion along the photographs edges.