Nadar

Arts & Photography

Heilbrun, Françoise

Hambourg, Ms. Maria Morris

Hambourg, Maria Norris

Photography & Video

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nadar, whose real name was Félix Tournachon (1820–1910), was a conspicuous, even astonishing presence in nineteenth-century France. Engaging and quick-witted, he invented himself over and over, as a bohemian writer, a journalist, a romantic Utopian, a caricaturist, a portrait photographer, a balloonist, an entrepreneur, a prophet of aeronautics. The name "Nadar" was on everyone's lips.  Today, it is Nadar's photography that is remembered. In just a few years he taught himself the young art and became one of its greatest practitioners, making portraits that are intimate and extraordinarily beautiful. His sitters, who were often his friends, included the great men and women of his time: Dumas, Rossini, Baudelaire, Sarah Bernhardt, Daumier, Berlioz, George Sand, Delacroix. Nadar had a remarkable capacity to elicit his sitter's most natural qualities and to create, even more than a likeness, a true portrait of character.  Nadar's legendary name has been attached not only to his original photographs but to reprints, copies, and a great deal of studio work. For that reason, this volume exactingly reproduces some one hundred photographs from the years 1854–60, the period of his earliest and finest photography, allowing viewers to become familiar with the subtle light and balanced, velvety tones that distinguish Nadar's original work.  Accompanying the photographs are essays that shed new light on the many facets of Nadar. The biographical sketch by Maria Morris Hambourg concentrates on his bohemian youth, his literary and journalistic experiences, and his emergence as a photographer. Françoise Heilbrun carefully traces the roots and development of Nadar's photographic art, while his relation to the art and artists of his time is investigated by Philippe Néagu. André Jammes tells us what became of Nadar's own prints; Ulrich Keller explains how to distinguish them from later prints and copies. Nadar's restless modernity took him beyond portraiture into scientific realms, including medical photography and making pictures underground, activities explored by Sylvie Aubenas. And the myth that the aged Nadar wove in his memoirs―of adventurer, flier, man of the future―is analyzed by André Rouille.  The intriguing, often eminent individuals who confront us from their portraits are further revealed through brief biographies in the book's catalogue section, where Nadar's interpretations of his subjects are also discussed.  A chronology of Nadar's life and numerous additional illustrations further enrich this exploration of a remarkable man and his work. [This book was originally published in 1995 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]

HAMBOURG, Maria Morris

Neagu, Philippe

History & Criticism

Paris in the Late 19th Century

Bascou, Marc

Mathieu, Caroline

Kinsman, Jane

Gott, Ted

Weir, Kathryn

Thames&Hudson

Book by Heilbrun, Francoise, Neagu, Philippe

Pierre Bonnard (English and French Edition)

Neagu, P

Aperture

This comprehensive book traces the origins and progression of photography from its humble beginnings in daguerreotypes to the gradual mastering of photographic portraits, techniques, and negatives. The wider use of photography in journalism, for documenting architecture and art movements, and its capacity to produce piercing perspectives on the social and political climate of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are all carefully evaluated, as well as the work of amateurs such as Zola who tried their hand at this revolutionary art form. Twenty-five years after the inauguration of France’s first permanent exhibition devoted solely to photography, the Musée d’Orsay continues in its innovative and original thread. This book bears testimony to the unique nature of the museum’s collection, noted for its rare finds, their quality, and the sheer number of works it holds (more than fifty-five thousand). The collection’s most-treasured works are exposed here, including a portrait of Baudelaire by Nadar and the recently acquired portrait of Man Ray by Stieglitz.

A History of Photography: The Musée d'Orsay Collection 1839-1925

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Skira

Water lilies, ponds, a Japanese footbridge, and blankets of glorious flowers: nothing evokes Claude Monet’s Impressionist paintings quite like these images from his garden at Giverny in Northern France. After moving to Giverny in 1883, Monet (1840-1926) discovered a profound source of artistic renewal in his garden, a motif he would paint for the rest of his life. Published to accompany the opening of the new Musée des Impressionnismes in Giverny, this gloriously illustrated book celebrates these beloved works and the landscape that inspired them. Monet’s Garden in Giverny showcases Monet’s paintings of his garden side by side with photographs of the artist in the garden. With thirty paintings, thirty photographs, numerous archival documents, a detailed chronology, and commentary by leading specialists in the field, this gorgeous volume is an essential addition to any art lover’s library.

Monet's Garden in Giverny: Inventing the Landscape

Bocquillon, Marina Ferretti

Van Zuylen, Gabrielle

5Continents

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