https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/82946/full[Gateway to Villa Carlotta]19098 x 6 3/4 inches (20.3 x 17.1 cm)Bromide printBequest of William P. Chapman, Jr., Class of 189562.33030From 1908 to 1912, Karl Struss attended night classes in photography at Teachers College Columbia University. Arthur Wesley Dow, then head of the department, had
hired Clarence White (after first asking Alfred Stieglitz), who suggested White to teach the first photography classes there.
In 1909 Struss traveled to Europe. The beautiful Villa Carlotta was built at the end of the seventeenth century by the Milanese marquis Giorgio Clerici in a natural basin between Lake Como and the surrounding mountains, facing the dolomite Grignas and the peninsula of Bellagio. The architect created for the Clericis an important but sober building, with an Italian garden decorated with sculptures, stairs, and fountains. In 1801 Gian Battista Sommariva, famous politician, businessman, and patron of arts, bought the villa and it became one of the most important halting-places on the Grand Tour.Photographs1902484703Karl Struss
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