Madame d’Ora: Vienna’s First Female Photographer Who Revolutionized Fashion and Confronted Holocaust Trauma
Dora Kallmus, also recognized as Madame d’Ora, was born in 1881 in Vienna to an affluent Jewish family. She made history as the first female member of both the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt and the Vienna Photographic Society. In 1907, she established the first photography studio in Vienna operated by a woman, collaborating with Arthur Benda. Her logo became a symbol of prestige, and she excelled at capturing dynamic subjects. In 1916, she documented the coronation of Emperor Charles I and Queen Zita. Relocating to Paris in 1925, she worked alongside Coco Chanel and contributed to Vogue. Fleeing to southern France during the Nazi occupation in 1940, her last series, Abattoirs, addressed Holocaust trauma. Retrospectives at the Leopold Museum and Neue Galerie include a catalogue.
Key facts
- Dora Kallmus was born in Vienna in 1881.
- She was the first woman admitted to the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt and the Vienna Photographic Society.
- In 1907, she opened Vienna’s first female-run photography studio at Wipplingerstrasse 15.
- She adopted the name Madame d’Ora and designed a stylized logo.
- In 1916, she obtained exclusive rights to photograph the coronation of Emperor Charles I and Queen Zita in Budapest.
- In 1925, she moved to Paris after an offer from L’Officiel.
- She collaborated with fashion houses including Chanel, Balenciaga, Lanvin, and Schiaparelli.
- During Nazi occupation, she fled Paris in 1940 and hid in Ardèche.
- In the 1950s, she created the Abattoirs series.
- The catalogue Machen Sie mich schön, Madame d’Ora! was published by Brandstätter / Hirmer Verlag, edited by Monika Faber, Esther Ruelfs, and Magdalena Vukovic.
- Retrospectives were held at the Leopold Museum in Vienna and the Neue Galerie in New York.
Entities
Artists
- Dora Kallmus
- Madame d’Ora
- Arthur Benda
- Nicola Perscheid
- Josef Hoffmann
- Coco Chanel
- Balenciaga
- Jeanne Lanvin
- Elsa Schiaparelli
- Anna Pavlova
- Anita Berber
- Maurice Chevalier
- Josephine Baker
- Tamara de Lempicka
- Colette
- Marc Chagall
- Pablo Picasso
- Gustav Klimt
- Monika Faber
- Esther Ruelfs
- Magdalena Vukovic
- Nicoletta Rita Speltra
Institutions
- Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt
- Vienna Photographic Society
- Wiener Werkstätte
- L’Officiel
- Vogue
- Tatler
- Die Dame
- Wiener Tierschutzverein
- Leopold Museum
- Neue Galerie
- Brandstätter / Hirmer Verlag
- Artribune
Locations
- Vienna
- Austria
- Paris
- France
- Berlin
- Germany
- Budapest
- Hungary
- Ardèche
- New York
- United States