Vintage matte gelatin silver print on carte postale
5 1/4" x 3 1/4 inches (13.4 x 8.4 cm)
D'Ora/Benda blindstamp bottom right
Fine

LA JANA (1905 - 1940)
The actress La Jana was born as Henriette Margarethe Hiebel in Vienna. She began her career at a child ballet for the Frankfurter Opera, later she had entrances in cabarets and revues where she continued appearing successfully as a dancer. Also the film business seized her dancing beauty, she made her film debut in 1925 with "Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit".

Madame D'ORA (aka Dora Philippine Kallmus, Austrian 1881-1963)
Kallmus opened a commercial photography studio with Arthur Benda (1885-1969) under the pseudonym Madame d'Ora in Vienna in 1907. She began a distinguished career as a Viennese salon photographer, and became extremely popular among the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy. In 1925, she moved her atelier to Paris, and during the 30s and 40s rose to international prominence through society and high fashion photography. She photographed Josephine Baker, Tamara de Lempicka, Alban Berg, Niddy Impekoven, Maurice Chevalier, Colette, numerous dancers, actors, painters, and writers.

Literature: Monika Faber. D'Ora Vienna and Paris 1907-1957; The Photography of Dora Kallmus. Vassar College Art Gallery, New York, 1987, for similar examples.