http://susannaforrest.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/whos-that-lady/ http://ridingaside.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/more-informationa-dn-pictures.html Entre to Black Paris - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=341252402552397entreetoblackparis.bl... http://carolathhabsburg.tumblr.com/post/11990607230/beauty-in-riding-clothes-... Selika Lazevski, a 19th century equestrian (Remember the mysterious “Beauty in riding habits”?) photographed by Felix Nadar in 1891. Well, we finally have a name! Selika Lazevski and she was an écuyère who performed haute école - which means she was an equestrian who rode high school dressage in French circuses in the 19th century. She was photographed by Felix Nadar in 1891. Thanks to author Susanna Forrest, who shared great details on Selika Lazevski and the possible origins of her first name on her blog." />
Beauty in riding habits. Late 1880s
Selika Lazevski photographed by Felix Nadar in 1891.
This image was floating around Tumblr at the end of last year and I thought I’d do my part to share more information about the identity of this mysterious horsewoman.
Her name is Selika Lazevski she was photographed by Felix Nadar in 1891.
This image is likely to have been taken from Documents 4 a Surrealist art magazine edited by Georges Bataille, published in Paris in 1929, were she is credited as Mademoiselle Lovzeski.
But thats about it!
SusannaForrest.wordpress.com sheds more light on the possible origins of her name.”Sélika was the name of the heroine of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s 1865 opera, L’Africaine, and was adopted as a stage name by the first Black woman to sing at the White House, the coloratura soprano Madame Marie Selika Williams. According to this site, the opera was hugely popular among African Americans, and Selika became a fashionable name.”
Some more Nadar photos of Selika on the French Ministry of Culture’s archive database:
Photo credit: Ministère de la Culture (France)
Photo credit: Ministère de la Culture (France)References:
Negrophilia: Avant-Garde Paris and Black Culture in the 1920s by Petrine Archer StrawMore photos: Ministère de la Culture (France)
http://susannaforrest.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/whos-that-lady/
http://ridingaside.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/more-informationa-dn-pictures.html
Entre to Black Paris - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=341252402552397
entreetoblackparis.blogspot.comhttp://carolathhabsburg.tumblr.com/post/11990607230/beauty-in-riding-clothes-s-background-history
Selika Lazevski, a 19th century equestrian (Remember the mysterious “Beauty in riding habits”?) photographed by Felix Nadar in 1891. Well, we finally have a name! Selika Lazevski and she was an écuyère who performed haute école - which means she was an equestrian who rode high school dressage in French circuses in the 19th century. She was photographed by Felix Nadar in 1891. Thanks to author Susanna Forrest, who shared great details on Selika Lazevski and the possible origins of her first name on her blog.
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Who’s That Lady?
January 16, 2012 by Susanna Forrest
This lady has been Tumblring around the internet lately, and she’d crossed my path a couple of times before Riding Aside asked the obvious question: who is she?
And Marie answered in the comments. Selika Lazevski. She provided a link to a French government website which gave two images of Selika and stated that she’s an écuyère who performed haute école. I’ve blogged before about the women whorode high-school dressage in French circuses in the nineteenth century, inspired byHilda Nelson’s recent book. Selika isn’t mentioned in this Xenophon Press title. Time to Google.
Very few hits other than the photoshoot (by Nadar in 1891). She’s not in Baron de Vaux’s history of horsemen and women in the circus. And that’s it… further investigation is required. I think I know where to look, although I’d have to be in the right library.
Sélika is the name of the heroine of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s 1865 opera, L’Africaine, and was adopted as a stage name by the first black woman to sing at the White House, the coloratura soprano Madame Marie Selika Williams. According to this site, the opera was hugely popular among African Americans, and Selika became a fashionable name. Popular among horse owners too: a filly called Selika won the Kentucky Oaks in 1894.