Misplaced Pages

Edgar de Evia

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Damiens.rf (talk | contribs) at 18:23, 14 December 2016 (→Editorial photography: neutral). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:23, 14 December 2016 by Damiens.rf (talk | contribs) (→Editorial photography: neutral)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Edgar de Evia
Edgar de Evia circa 2002
BornEdgar Domingo Evia y Joutard
(1910-07-30)July 30, 1910
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
DiedFebruary 10, 2003(2003-02-10) (aged 92)
New York, New York, U.S.A

Edgar Domingo Evia y Joutard, known professionally as Edgar de Evia (July 30, 1910 – February 10, 2003), was a Mexican-born American interiors photographer.

In a career that spanned the 1940s through the 1990s, his photography appeared in magazines and newspapers such as Town & Country, House & Garden, Look and The New York Times Magazine and advertising campaigns for Borden Ice Cream, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, Jell-O among other corporations.

Birth and family

De Evia was born in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. His mother was Pauline Joutard (1890–1957), a French-born pianist who performed under the stage name Miirrha Alhambra. His father was Domingo Fernando Evia y Barbachano (1883–1977), a wealthy landowner who was a member of two families that have been prominent in the politics and culture of Yucatán since the mid 19th century, one of which, the Barbachanos, has been described as "one of the most powerful of Yucatán's oligarchy".

On 30 June 1912, at the age of two, Evia arrived with his family in New York City aboard the liner "Progreso". Based on immigration and other official records, it appears that Evia altered his surname to de Evia sometime after 1942, at which time he was using the professional name Edgar D. Evia.

Careers

Homeopathy research

Photographic self-portrait by Edgar de Evia reflected with the oil portrait by M. Jean McLane of himself as a child (circa 1990).
Edgar de Evia, circa 1930.
Logo designed by Edgar de Evia in pen and ink and used by the photographer on all of his business transactions the last thirty years of his life.

Edgar served as the research assistant to Dr. Guy Beckley Stearns, a homeopathic physician with whom he wrote and published articles and one book about homeopathy.

For Laurie's Domestic Medicine, a medical guide published in 1942, Stearns and Edgar D. Evia contributed an essay called "The New Synthesis", which was expanded that same year into a book entitled "The Physical Basis of Homeopathy and the New Synthesis". In the New England Journal of Homeopathy (Spring/Summer 2001, Vol. 10, No. 1), Richard Moskowitz, MD, called the Stearns-Evia article "a cutting-edge essay into homeopathic research that prophesied and actually began the development of kinesiology, made original contributions to radionics, and dared to sketch out a philosophy of these still esoteric frontiers of homeopathy at a time when such matters were a lot further beyond the pale of respectable science even than they are today."

Photography

Frequently producing images utilizing soft focus and diffusion, de Evia was dubbed a "master of still life" in the 1957 publication Popular Photography Color Annual. In a review of the book, The New York Times stated that "Black and white is frequently interspersed through the book and serves as a reminder that black and white still has a useful place, even in a world of color, often more convincingly as well. This is pointed up rather persuasively in the portfolio on Edgar de Evia as a 'master of still life' and in the one devoted to the work of Rene Groebil." "Editorial high-key food photography was introduced by Edgar D'Evia in 1953 for the pages of Good Housekeeping."

William A. Reedy, editor of Applied Photography, in a 1970 interview for the Eastman Kodak publication Studio Light/Commercial Camera, wrote that de Evia:

"has been a photographic illustrator in New York City for many years. His work has helped sell automobiles, food, drink, furniture and countless other products. To fashion accounts he has been known as a fashion photographer, while food people think of him as a specialist in still life. While, in fact, he is a photographer, period. He applies his considerable talent and experience to whatever the problem at hand."

Melvin Sokolsky, a fashion photographer who has created images for Harpers Bazaar and Vogue, considered Edgar de Evia one of his earliest influences, saying, "I discovered that Edgar was paid $4,000 for a Jell-O ad, and the idea of escaping from my tenement dwelling became an incredible dream and inspiration."

Personalities photographed

De Evia also produced commissioned photographic portraits of individuals, including Polish-American violinist Roman Totenberg and Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer.

Editorial photography

De Evia worked for Applied Photography, Town & Country, Vogue, Vogue Paris, Architectural Digest, Glamour, Bride's, Good Housekeeping, Art and Antiques Magazine, House & Garden, Home, Maison & Jardin, Vogue Decoration, Look, Shaggy Lamb Fashion, The New York Times Magazine, McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal, New York Magazine (December 19, 1988 Feature article on de Evia and his apartment), After Dark, Art Direction, Photography, Popular Photography, Women's Wear Daily and W.

Books

Books that have been illustrated with de Evia's photography include:

Commercial photography

De Evia worked for Borden Ice Cream (Lady Borden campaign 1956–1960), Celanese Corporation, Empress Chinchilla (fur ads), Fieldcrest, Gorham Silver, hats by Mr. John of John-Frederics,, Leather Industries of America, Maximilian Furs (1950s, all ads had the credit "DeEvia"), McCall's patterns (all ads had the credit "Photograph by Edgar de Evia"),.

Gallery

  • The Little Church Around the Corner (The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, NYC) The Little Church Around the Corner (The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, NYC)
  • A model reads a book in a 1968 de Evia portfolio photograph. A model reads a book in a 1968 de Evia portfolio photograph.
  • 1969, a man with a hat in front of the World Trade Center under construction 1969, a man with a hat in front of the World Trade Center under construction
  • A male nude, taken in the 1970s. A male nude, taken in the 1970s.
  • Professional model Dovima, in an 1950s ad. Professional model Dovima, in an 1950s ad.
  • Professional model Sunny Harnett taken in the 1950s. Professional model Sunny Harnett taken in the 1950s.

Relationships

In the 1950s, de Evia's companion and business partner was Robert Denning, who worked in his studio and who would become a leading American interior designer and partner in the firm Denning & Fourcade.

References

  1. For information about her recitals in America, both on stage and radio, see the following: The New York Times, 17 June 1928 (p. 133), 13 February 1931 (p. 21), 13 November 1932 (p. X7), and 15 November 1932 (p. 19).
  2. Congresoyucatan.gov.mx
  3. Yucatan.gob.mx. The quote is taken from "Tourism 'Wars' in the Yucatan", which is posted on the website of the American Anthropological Association. aaannet.org The article was written by Quetzil E. Castaneda, an affiliate assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Washington and the founding director and professor of The Open School of Anthropology and Ethnography.
  4. According to the ship's manifest, which can be accessed at ellisisland, several members of the Evia family immigrated from Mexico to New York at the same time, including Evia's paternal aunt Rosario Evia de Espejo and her husband and children. In the manifest, his father, Domingo, gave his occupation as farmer. According to the manifest, the family's surname was Evia, not de Evia.
  5. According to original ship manifests and passport information pertaining to the family's immigration to the United States in 1912 give the family's surname as EVIA
  6. New England Journal of Homeopathy – Classical Homeopathy Articles & Reviews
  7. "Color in Review: Popular Photography's Color Annual Surveys Medium's Current Status", The New York Times, 19 May 1957, page X17
  8. Advertising Directions by Edward M Gottschall and Arthur Hawkins, New York: Art Directions Book Co., 1996.
  9. "about Photography with Edgar de Evia" by William A. Reedy, p. 16 Studio Light/Commercial Camera v.2 no. 2 1970.
  10. Melvin Sokolsky’s Affinities by Martin Harrison as reproduced on the web Melvin Sokolsky Seeing Fashion retrieved June 29, 2006. For a career-wide view of Sokolsky's work, see his website. For reference to his work for Vogue and other publications, see Sokolsky interview at bauhaus.com]
  11. De Evia's photographic portrait of Totenberg is featured in the article "Among the Week's Recitalists", The New York Times, 28 March 1948, p. X7.
  12. 1978 photograph featured in the article "New York Look – Saturday in the Park with Ralph" by Jada Yuan & Amy Odell, New York, 26 November 2007 online. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  13. 5 expressions on a new film #12, 1959
  14. Studies in Tone Gradation—the hallmark of excellence #60, 1975
  15. ^ Condé Nast Publications Library, New York City, New York
  16. "Vincent Fourcade – Celebrating the pleasures of magnificent excess", by Mitchell Owens, Architectural Digest, January 2000, v. 57 #1, p. 169 – one of twenty five persons named by the magazine "Interior Design Legends".
  17. The Petticoat Craze. Retrieved August 28, 2006.
  18. Seven photographic sheets from de Evia's shoot for this article are in the Look Magazine Photograph Collection, which is held at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., call number LOOK – Job 68-3978. Information about these images, which were taken on 14 November 1968, can be accessed at the Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
  19. Books.google.com
  20. Ad Lady Borden New Black Cherry Crisp Saturday Evening Post, 30 January 1960
  21. Full page advertisement in The New Yorker featured in The Professional Photographer v.80, October 19, 1953
  22. Annual of Advertising, Editorial, Television Art & Design v. 34
  23. McCall's v. 79 no. 10
  24. Harper's Bazaar, September 1952
  25. McCall's January and February 1958
  26. Mitchell Owens, Robert Denning, Champion of Lavish Décor, The New York Times, 5 September 2005, page B7

External links

Categories: