Florence Meyer

Florence Meyer Homolka (January 22, 1911 – November 27, 1962) was an American portrait photographer and socialite. She was married to the actor Oscar Homolka.

This article is about the American photographer born in 1911; for the American philanthropist born in 1875, see Florence Meyer Blumenthal.
Florence Meyer Homolka
Photo of Meyer by Man Ray
Born
Florence Meyer

(1911-01-22)January 22, 1911
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 27, 1962(1962-11-27) (aged 51)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Portrait photographer and socialite
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1939; div. 1948)​
Children2
Parents
RelativesKatharine Graham (sister)
Marc Eugene Meyer (grandfather)
Joseph Newmark (great-grandfather)

Early life and education

She was born in New York City, the eldest daughter of Eugene Meyer (1875–1959), future publisher of the Washington Post, and Agnes Elizabeth (Ernst) Meyer (1887–1970).[1] Along with her four siblings, she was baptized as a Lutheran but attended an Episcopal church.[2]

She attended the Madeira School[3] and Bryn Mawr College,[1] graduated from Radcliffe College.[4]

Photography

Meyer photographed numerous artists, playwrights, actors, writers, composers, musicians, statesmen, film stars, and other celebrities of her day. Her work included portraits of Van Cliburn,[5] James Agee, Thomas Mann, Constantin Brâncuși, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, Vladimir Horowitz, Lion Feuchtwanger, Arnold Schoenberg, Christopher Isherwood and of fellow photographers Edward Steichen, Walker Evans, and Brassaï.[6]

Meyer was a close friend and protégée of Man Ray, and in 1946 took the photographs for the double wedding portraits of Man Ray and Juliet Browner, and Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning.[7] Meyer exhibited her photographs at the Palos Verdes Art Gallery in 1950[8] and at Los Angeles City Hall in 1952.[9]

Meyer played the Juggler and the Priestess of the Golden Calf in the original Broadway cast of Kurt Weill's The Eternal Road (1937).[4] She was the author of Focus on Art, published posthumously in 1962, with a foreword by Aldous Huxley.[10]

Personal life

In 1939, Meyer married the widowed Austrian character actor Oscar Homolka (1898–1978).[4][11] They had two sons, Vincent and Laurence. They divorced in 1946,[12] but the financial details of the divorce were contested as late as 1952.[13] She died from a respiratory attack in Santa Monica in 1962, at the age of 51.[14]

References
  1. "Florence Meyer is Debutante". The San Francisco Examiner. January 2, 1929. p. 16. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Zweigenhaft, Richard L. and G. William Domhoff The New CEOs : Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies Published: March 18, 2014 |Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
  3. "Wedding in Mt. Kisco for Florence Meyer; Publisher's Daughter Is Bride of Oscar Homolka, Actor". The New York Times. August 22, 1939. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  4. "Florence Meyer Married to Actor at Parents' Home". Poughkeepsie Eagle-News. August 22, 1939. p. 5. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Homolka, Florence Meyer (c. 1958). "Van Cliburn" (photograph), National Portrait Gallery.
  6. "Florence Meyer (Homolka) by Man Ray". Getty Collection Online. October 25, 1946. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  7. La Force, Thessaly (May 20, 2021). "When Two Artists Meet, and Then Marry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  8. "Exhibit Tea". Palos Verdes Peninsula News. November 16, 1950. p. 1. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. "Photo Exhibit To Open Monday At Tower Gallery". Palos Verdes Peninsula News. July 24, 1952. p. 6. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. Homolka, Florence (1962). Focus on Art. I. Obolensky. ISBN 978-0-8392-1034-4.
  11. "Actor Weds Florence Meyer". The Daily Item. August 22, 1939. p. 6. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Hubby Didn't Want to be Married". Daily News. August 10, 1946. p. 52. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Actor Homolka, ex-wife settle suit". Daily News. May 3, 1952. p. 6. Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. "Mrs. Florence Homolka, 51, Daughter of Eugene Meyer". The New York Times. November 28, 1962. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
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