In Her Studio
She sits at the easel in a loose pale gown, brush extended towards the canvas, an oval palette resting beside her on the chair. Behind are a large framed picture, palms, a patterned rug. Propped against the foot of the easel, turned to the camera, is a copy of the magazine the photograph appeared in.
It is the only photograph here that shows her working. The others show her posed — with a peacock, in a hat, in the studio portrait she chose for the press — but this one has the palette in it.
The credit line reads Hofphot. Max v. Rüdiger, Berlin — court photographer Max von Rüdiger. It was printed in Berliner Leben in 1899, facing a plate of The Life-Sphinx, under a notice announcing that she “has now moved entirely to Berlin” after years in Munich and Italy.
⚠️ The canvas on the easel shows trees and what may be a waterfall or a stretch of pale sky. It has not been identified.