At the height of America’s Gilded Age, a photographer from Yonkers captured the world’s attention with his innovative images. Rudolf Eickemeyer Jr. documented a period of immense change in New York and demonstrated the potential for photography to be taken seriously as art. Through his artistic vision and pursuit of excellence in his craft, Eickemeyer challenged the traditions of portraiture and landscape photography to become arguably the finest photographer of his generation, and one of the most esteemed pictorialists ever.
Born in Yonkers on August 7, 1862, Eickemeyer was the son of a prominent inventor and businessman whose electric machinery business was ultimately sold to General Electric in 1892. As a young man, he was hired to apprentice with his father at Osterheld & Eickemeyer as a draftsman. His interest in drawing led him to discover a passion for photography and he purchased a modest camera in 1884. Eickemeyer began by taking pictures of his father’s inventions and soon recognized the artistic potential of the medium. As a draftsman, he honed his precision and attention to detail, traits that would form the foundation of his photographic career.
First Camera Spurs Artistic Vision
When he bought his first camera at age twenty-two, Eickemeyer sought to learn as much as he could about technical camera use, photograph development, and print techniques. He also immersed himself in the world of photography, studying the works of other masters and discovering techniques he would apply to his own work, such as composition, lighting, and action. While his contemporaries were experimenting with camera filters, movement, and exposure times, Eickemeyer concentrated on mastering the fundamentals of photography and committing himself to maintaining a pure and natural technique.
Although his father disapproved of photography as a career, Eickemeyer decided to follow his passion, submitting a collection of photographs to the Yonkers Photo Club Lantern Slide Exhibition in 1890. In his first formal show, he won 11 medals. His style focused on using natural elements in his surroundings to frame his works, capture texture and movement, and mimic the staging of traditional works of art.
Local and International Acclaim
As Eickemeyer explored his artistic vision, he gained notice of the American photography community, when he began entering—and winning—photographic exhibitions. In 1893, one of his most famous works, As She Comes Down the Stairs (featuring his wife Isabelle as the model), won him a gold medal at the Hamburg International Exhibition. Another photograph of his wife, Lily Gatherer, showing her in a rowboat lazily grazing the surface of the water with her fingertips, won a silver medal at the Joint Annual Exhibition in Philadelphia.
Following his success in America, Eickemeyer entered several international competitions in 1894. His popularity soared as he won sixteen medals, including the Albert Medal, the Royal Photographic Society’s recognition of his rural landscape photograph Sweet Home. His charming domestic portrait, Kitten’s Breakfast, won the Viceroy Gold Medal for its depiction of high-society children feeding their young cat.
A Career in Photography
Following his father’s death in 1895, Eickemeyer became a member of the Carbon Studio in Manhattan, a photography studio that had gained prominence for portraiture. During his time there, he became known for his unique photographs of members of Gilded Age New York’s high society. His most famous works are his 1901 series of photographs showcasing the Edwardian glamour of New York entertainer and model Evelyn Nesbit. The provocative collection includes a close-up profile shot of her face framed in flowers and another of her reclining in her nightclothes on a bear skin rug.
Soon after joining the New York Camera Club in 1900, he exhibited his first solo collection of fine art photography, a showcase of more than 150 images. As a testament to Eickemeyer’s commitment to social justice in the United States South, he published Down South, a photographic book exploring the human experience of African American sharecroppers in Alabama. His book Winter (1903), is the most artistic of his bound works and features landscape images of rural America, accompanied by quotes from other artists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Eickemeyer’s career continued through the 1920s, and his influence and esteem within the photography community soared. In Yonkers, he dedicated his life to teaching, mentoring, and advocating for aspiring young photographers. He became a commissioner of the Yonkers Museum of Science and Arts (now the Hudson River Museum), which currently holds more than 200 pieces of his art. In 1929, Eickemeyer donated the majority of his works to the Smithsonian Institution where his artistic vision continues to inspire.
