Nude Study

This nude study features a woman in a striking profile pose and an orientalizing turban, a fashion popular at the time. The brightly lit subject and linear composition, as well as the white background, are hallmarks of Wilding’s portraiture. She was an apprentice to the Bond Street, London photographer Marian Nelson and opened her first studio in 1914 at age 21. She is perhaps best known as the Official Royal Photographer and became the first woman appointed to that role in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. She opened a second studio in New York City the same year and became a sought-after society portraitist.