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Portrait of Paul Chenavard, from the series “Histoire des Artistes Vivants”
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Édouard Baldus, best known as an architectural photographer, took this portrait as an illustration for the entry on painter Paul Chenavard in Théophile Silvestre’s <em>History of Living Artists French and Foreign: Studies after Nature</em>. This ambitious and innovative project featured lengthy biographies of contemporary artists illustrated with photographic portraits. Some entries also had photographic reproductions of the artist’s paintings—possibly the first time that occurred in a publication. The books attest to the importance and interconnectedness of contemporary art and photography in the mid-1800s.
| Artist / Maker | Édouard Baldus |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1852 |
| Culture / Origin | France, 19th century |
| Medium | albumen print from wet collodion negative |
| Dimensions | Image: 17.6 x 13.2 cm (6 15/16 x 5 3/16 in.); Paper: 46.6 x 31.8 cm (18 3/8 x 12 1/2 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.) |
| Department | Photography |
| Type | Photograph |
About the Artist
Édouard Baldus French, b. Prussia, 1813 - 1889 The large and regal prints made by Édouard-Denis Baldus are widely agreed to be among the finest photographic images ever produced. After serving as an artillery officer in the Prussian army, Baldus left his native country for France during the 1830s to become a painter. He exhibited his paintings of religious subjects, portraits, and genre scenes in the Paris Salons from 1841 - 51 and was naturalized as a French citizen in… Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
Condition
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