Death Masks and Postmortem Photos - Pictures of the Dead

Before we continue with the titled subject matter of this page, some of you may be looking for more information about Victor Frisch. You may have been searching the name and came upon this page, so let me share a bit from a brochure that I acquired along with the photos.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Frisch was the son of Prof. Baron Josef von Frisch, a Physician. Victor Frisch also studied medicine, and upon graduation went to Munich, Germany to study painting. He then began sculpturing while at the Academy and his work caught the attention of Auguste Rodin of Paris. Frisch was invited by Rodin to be a student in Paris of the late Auguste Rodin.

Frisch studied under Rodin for 12 years, doing many marble sculptures. One of the sculptures done by Frisch for Rodin should still be at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, it is called "The Hand of God". Though the brochure I have about Frisch and his work says that his hands did this and many other pieces for Rodin, the work itself is attributed to Rodin. He later worked independently, doing his own works.

During the World War, his work ceased for a time, as he was an Austrian and thus interned. Rodin did all he could to free his friend. At the end of the war, he was transferred to Switzerland, and eventually became a Citizen of the United States.

His studio, which is pictured in this photo I own, was at 42 Washington Mews, near 5th Avenue and Washington Square, New York City.

His works can be found in many art galleries and museums in Europe. You will also find his works in public parks and outdoor plazas in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France, and as I said in the introduction, in Central Park.

If you would like to see the brochure that provided the information I am sharing, I can send an image, you will need to contact me in the comment section/guestbook below.

When looking at death masks available for sale, realize they may not be originals, and make sure they are actually death masks.

For example, there is a mask of Abraham Lincoln that is often called a death mask that was really made when he was alive, a year or so before his death.

After finding the photographs I mentioned in the introduction and satisfying my curiosity about death masks, and searching to see if such things sold on eBay, I was amazed to see how many pictures there were, and what I learned just by visiting the pictures. It made me wonder how many times I had sold a photo in the past that was postmortem without knowing it.

For example, often a soldier would be dressed in uniform and would be posed in a standing position using a stand to prop him while the picture was taken; family members would be sitting as if posing for a family photo, but one of the members might be dead; a parent may be sitting holding a dead infant. These are only a few examples of what might sound strange to us, but was normal practice at one time.

You can most easily recognize a postmortem photo by looking closely with magnification at the eyes, looking for signs of a stand if the person is standing, looking at facial expression, and sometimes on Cabinet Card photos, the photographer's information on the back will tell you the person specializes in death photos, as was the case in one of the pictures I had.

Be careful if shopping for these photos that they are authentic. Ask any questions of the seller ahead of time.