Carlos Pellegrini, Pedro J. Benoit and others. Circa 1895.

Gelatin silver print -23.8 x 29.4 cm / 9.37 x 11.57 in-, mounted on a secondary support with a double golden perimeter guard, with some marginal losses that do not affect the photograph. On the back, handwritten in blue ink: "Carlos Pellegrini / Pedro J. Benoit / The Mezquita girls" and handwritten in pencil: Ballot N. 2195 / brown filet". The work is exhibited framed.

The record was obtained in summer with a lush grove as a scenographic background, probably in the vicinity of Mar del Plata. It is an intimate "plein air" shot. In front of the large outdoor camera, the writer and politician Miguel Cané (1851-1905) pose in a sympathetic way and from left to right, three young ladies -two of them, from the Mezquita family, Sara and Matilde- wearing their white dresses and wide capelines, then Dr. Pellegrini in the center, in a dark jacket and white pants; then the architect Pedro J. Benoit and finally an unidentified gentleman. Everyone outlines a faint smile, probably in front of a joke from the intelligent professional photographer hitherto unidentified.

Benoit, the surveyor and architect of great work in the city of La Plata, was at that time in Mar del Plata, in charge of the construction of the cathedral. The young women of the Mezquita family were granddaughters of Pedro Luro -one of the promoters of the city of Mar del Plata-, on the mother's side: Matilde Luro Pradére, one of the fourteen children of Don Pedro, had married Marcelino Mezquita, with whom she had these two girls and a boy named Carlos.

Carlos Pellegrini (1846-1906), elected vice president in 1886, held the presidency of Argentina as a result of the Revolution of 1890. Creator of the Banco de la Nación, he is remembered for his efforts to recover the country's economy -he was baptized "Pilot of storms”- and his support for a pluralist political opening.

Surely more than one copy of this photograph was made, requested by its participants; one of them was part of the exhibition "Argentina Life in Photos" held in 1981 at the Museum of Modern Art and curated by the photographer and researcher Sameer Makarius (1924-2009). The original identified there under N. 19 was at that time the property of Marta Gallardo.

Definitely a high collection heritage photograph.