Unknown man

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Unknown man

by Cavendish Morton
platinum print, 1900s
6 1/8 in. x 4 3/8 in. (154 mm x 110 mm) image size
Given by the photographer's son, Cavendish Morton, 1991
Photographs Collection
NPG x128847

Artistback to top

  • Cavendish Morton (1874-1939), Photographer, actor and film director. Artist or producer associated with 115 portraits, Sitter associated with 15 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 41 Read entry

    In 1903 the first musical performed by a cast of black actors, In Dahomey, was staged in London. With music by Will

    Marion Cook, lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar and book by Jesse A. Shipp (all three of whom were African-Americans), the show enjoyed huge success. The photographer Cavendish Morton (1874-1939) made several portraits of the cast members. In this photograph he focuses on the beauty of the sitter’s profile and torso, and the use of light sensually delineates his features. Morton was born in New York to British parents and took up photography in the late 1890s, opening a studio in London at 60 Primrose Mansions, Battersea Park. He specialised in stage and society portraits and became a leading photographer of the Edwardian period.

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Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1900back to top

Current affairs

The Conservatives return to power, after the Prime Minister Lord Salisbury calls a general election, known as the 'Khaki election', on the back of huge jingoistic support for the Boer War.
The Labour Representation Committee (LRC) is founded from a coalition of socialist groups; they win two seats in the 1900 election and Ramsay Macdonald is appointed secretary. The Labour politician Keir Hardie is also returned to Parliament for Merthyr Tydfilin Wales.

Art and science

German physicist Max Planck proposes the concept of the quantum theory. Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published. In the text, Freud outlines his theory of dream analysis, crucial to the study of the unconscious, and introduces key concepts in psychoanalysis, such as the Ego.
The Paris International Exhibition, attended by more than 50 million people and including over 76,000 exhibitors, marks the heyday of Art Nouveau.

International

In China the Boxer rebellion takes place. The Boxers were anti-imperialist and against foreign influence in trade, religion, politics and technology in the final years of the Manchu rule. The Boxers invade Beijing, killing 230 foreigners and Chinese Christians. The rebellion is suppressed by a multinational coalition of 20,000 troops, with China being forced to pay large war reparations, contributing to growing nationalist resentment against the Qing dynasty.

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