Last photograph of Oscar Wilde sells for $375k at Bonhams
Earlier this year, Bonhams sold the last photograph of Oscar Wilde, taken moments before he died in Paris in 1900, for a staggering $375,000 (£279,800), well above its estimated price of $5,375 to $6,719 (£3,000 to £5,000). Captured by Maurice Gilbert, a French marine, the photo was taken just three hours after Wilde's death on November 30, 1900, at the Hôtel d'Alsace using borrowed equipment and a tricky magnesium flash. Wilde, a prominent Victorian author known for works like The Picture of Dorian Gray, faced a devastating career fall after being convicted of gross indecency in 1895. He spent two years in prison, then lived in exile until his death at 46 from an ear infection, surrounded by friends, including Robert Ross, who initially requested the photo.
Key facts
- The last photograph of Oscar Wilde was taken on his death bed on November 30, 1900, in Paris.
- The photograph sold at Bonhams for $375,000 (£279,800), far above its estimate of $5,375 to $6,719 (£3,000 to £5,000).
- The photograph was taken by French marine infantryman Maurice Gilbert using a borrowed camera and a magnesium flashlight.
- Wilde died at the Hôtel d'Alsace in Paris at age 46 from an ear infection.
- Present at his death were Robert Ross, Reginald Turner, and Jean Dupoirier.
- Ross requested the photograph but called it unsuccessful due to a faulty flashlight.
- Only a few surviving prints of the final portrait are believed to exist.
- Wilde's career was destroyed after his 1895 conviction for gross indecency.
Entities
Artists
- Oscar Wilde
- Maurice Gilbert
- Napoleon Sarony
- Robert Ross
- Reginald Turner
- Jean Dupoirier
Institutions
- Bonhams
- Camera Museum
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Hôtel d'Alsace
- England
- Europe
- Victorian Britain