Oscar Wilde No. 18: The Photo is Famous. The Story Behind It Has Been Forgotten…Until Now
Will history repeat with AI-generated art?
In 1882, when Oscar Wilde arrived in America, he was asked the usual question by customs officials — "Do you have anything to declare?"
Wilde dryly quipped, "I have nothing to declare but my genius."
Cheeky as his response may have been, Wilde's genius was not exactly recognized yet. He had not written "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891) or the countless plays that would later cement his fame.
Oscar Wilde was pretty much the Kardashian of his day — his fame was built around his aesthetic and not any talent. New Yorkers adored him for his flamboyant fashions, witty bot mots, and biting aphorisms. Wilde was the celebrity everyone wanted at their soirée, and no one knew why.
Of course, unlike influencer culture today, Wilde saw the chimeric nature of fame and often caricatured himself. He played both the simpleton and the sage with paradoxical verve.
And as an object of both curiosity and repugnance (he was scandalously bisexual at a time when homosexuality was viewed as perverse) everyone wanted a photograph of Oscar Wilde.
