Zprávy památkové péče 2017, 77(Příloha):55-62

Count Gabriel Gudenus and his photographic legacy

Zuzana Macurová, Zdeňka Míchalová

NPÚ, ÚOP v Brně

Count Gabriel Gudenus (1853-1915) was a member of a Lower Austrian aristocratic family who in the second half of the 19th century owned farm estates in the Vysočina area, where their most important farm was Moravec. Gabriel Gudenus spent most of his life there together with his wife Aloisie, née von Teuber, who was a member of a major industrial family in Brno. From 1885, Gudenus consistently devoted himself to his photographic passions, from which a very extensive collection has been preserved. Altogether, some 1,300 photographs and about 900 glass negatives are known of, mostly stored at the castle in Lysice. An interesting remnant on the activities of this amateur photographer is also a collection of contemporary photographic literature containing technical manuals, publications on the history of photography, and photographic periodicals, all of which are part of the library fund stored at the Moravec Castle.
The topics of the photographs can be divided into several areas: portrait photos include pictures of family members and friends in classical portrait poses as well as in staged joke scenes. Group portraits of hunters are in abundance. In addition to stylized photographs, the set also contains a smaller number of snapshots capturing tennis matches in Křižanov, horse rides, and even construction work at the church in Moravec. Another large group of photos cover the exteriors and interiors of the family's mansions in Moravec and Křižanov as well as other places, especially in Vysočina. The library at the castle in Moravec contains four albums entitled Bilder aus meinem Leben I-IV (family, Moravec, hunting, other) which include a representative selection of Gudenus' photographs and several pictures by professional photographers with dates and very detailed descriptions identifying places and people. The thematic distribution of these albums basically follows the main lines of Gudenus' work. Photographs that document the activity of photography itself make up a notable part of the collection. Several pictures show people with a camera, with one photo showing a work desk in a photography darkroom at the Moravec castle. The method of how the photographs and glass negatives are stored is a testimony to Gudenus' systematicity. Negatives, often with the year of purchase and serial number engraved in, were stored into wooden panels. Most of the photos stored in the numbered photo albums are of the leporel type, often with descriptions and dates on the back side.
As a whole, the remarkable range of Gabriel Gudenus' photographic work provides a preserved testimony to the evolving activities of amateur photographers at the turn of the 19th century as well as providing a significant store of knowledge on the lifestyle of nobility.

Keywords: Count Gabriel Gudenus, photographic legacy of nobility, everydayness of nobility

Published: December 1, 2017  Show citation