Margaret Anglin as Antigone. Greek Theatre, University of California, Berkeley, 30 June 1910.

Platinum print photograph, 225 x 157 mm; verso with a fully contemporary inscription in pencil ‘Margaret Anglin as Antigone. Greek Theatre, Berkeley, 30 June’, and with a later pencilled annotation ‘Arnold Genthe 1910’; unmounted; very slight bend at bottom left corner, otherwise superb condition.

A magnificent study by Arnold Genthe of the great Canadian actress Margaret Anglin, of which we can trace no example in institutional collections. The portrait captures Anglin in what was to become a defining and watershed moment in her career: Antigone was her very first attempt at Greek tragedy, and she produced, directed and performed in the play at Berkeley for one night only, on 30 June 1910.

‘Anglin was 33 when she moved back to America after her grand tour in Australia. Upon her arrival in the summer of 1909, she began “taking her first steps towards the production of Greek tragedy” (Le Vay, John. Margaret Anglin, A Stage Life. Simon & Pierre, 1989, 121), which started with an “intensive study of… Greek plays” (ibid.) and is “generally considered her most noteworthy contribution to the life of the American theatre” (ibid.). Anglin’s first role in a Greek tragedy was as Antigone in a single performance at the Hearst Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley. Although Anglin had virtually no prior experience performing in Greek tragedies or classic verse plays of any kind, she was enticed by William Dallam Armes invitation, which stated that this opportunity would provide “ample opportunity for the display of your great ability as an emotional actress” (Myers, Norman J. “Margaret Anglin’s Greek Revivals, 1910-1928.” Theatre Studies 34, 1989, 30). She immediately accepted the offer, and would embrace all areas of the project’s production. On her own shoulders Anglin loaded the multiple responsibilities of directing, staging, selecting a chorus (Greek, not musical comedy), arranging and rearranging ‘business’, choosing costumes, supervising electricians, actors, musicians, and stage hands, up to the last detail relating to the performance” (Young, William C. “Margaret Anglin.” Famous Actors and Actresses on the American Stage. Vol. 1. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1975, 36); leaving only the publicity and advertisement to her husband who acted as her business manager. Anglin believed that “the classical play is the highest expression for the player” (Meyers, ibid., 28) and her passion for the form fueled her professionalism and attention to detail. From 1910 to 1928, she would go on to produce, under her own management, Antigone, Electra, Iphigenia in Aulis, and Medea at the Greek Theatre at Berkeley, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera House. Each revival was met with high critical acclaim and for Anglin, the “problem was not how to attract the public, but how to provide accommodations for the people who besieged the box office”.’ (Wikipedia)

Arnold Genthe (1869-1942)

‘Born in Germany to a family of scholars, Genthe was a recent Ph.D. in classical philology when he came to the United States in 1895 to work for two years as a tutor. On his days off, he walked the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco, where he began to photograph. After publishing some of these images in local magazines, Genthe decided to open his own studio, specializing in portraits of prominent locals and visiting celebrities. Genthe’s work and studio were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and resulting fire–save for the Chinatown images that had been stored in a bank vault. He published those early images in the 1909 book Pictures of Old Chinatown. After the fire, Genthe re-established his studio in San Francisco and in 1908 spent six months photographing in Japan. In 1911 he moved to New York, where he continued to work as a successful portrait and pioneering dance photographer. With New York as his new home base, Genthe also traveled and photographed throughout Europe and the United States.’ (Getty Museum)