Beschreibung:

ULTIMATE Early French Masterworks from the Hyman Collection Louis-Adolphe Humbert de Molard Follow Two Hunters, Argentelle 1848 Salt print and its unique waxed paper negative. Image/sheet: 21.6 x 17.5 cm (8 1/2 x 6 7/8 in.) Negative: 22.1 x 18.3 cm (8 3/4 x 7 1/4 in.) This paper negative is unique. This salt print is one of only two known prints of this image to date; the other print is held at Musée Gatien-Bonnet, Lagny-sur-Marne. Société française de photographie, Musée d'Orsay and Musée Gatien-Bonnet, each holds a salt print of a variant. Wilson Centre for Photography in London holds a negative and positive pair of a variant. This is the first auction offering of a paper negative by Humbert de Molard paired with its salt print.
Condition Report Sign up or Log in Provenance Private Collection, France Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, 2012 The Hyman Collection, London Literature H. Gernsheim, The Origins of Photography , New York: Thames & Hudson, 1982, pl. 170, p. 242, variant, dated 1851 A. Jammes & E. P. Janis, The Art of French Calotype: with a critical dictionary of photographers, 1845- 1870 , Princeton: Princeton UP, 1983, pl. XII, variant F. Heilbrun, Charles Nègre 1820-1880: Das photographische Werk , Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1988, fig. 54, p. 38, variant E. Bacot, A. de Brébisson, A. Humbert de Molard: trois photographes en Basse-Normandie au XIXe siècle: naissance d'un art: la photographie , Caen: ARDI, 1989, p. 93, variant K. S. Howe, First Seen: Portraits of the World's Peoples 1840-1880 from the Wilson Centre for Photography , Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2004, pls. 132-133, variant J. Champion & P. Crouzet, eds., Primitifs de la photographie: le calotype en France 1843- 1860 , Paris: BNF, 2010, p. 190, cat. 126, variant Catalogue Essay Baron Louis-Adolphe Humbert de Molard was a wealthy amateur who embraced the new art of discovery, turning his camera towards his family, friends and domestic staff to create lyrical genre scenes. He took up photography in 1843 with the daguerreotype. By the mid-1840s, he was among the first French photographers to use paper photography and continued to experiment with photographic practices through the 1860s. In 1854, he became one of the founding members of the Société française de photographie alongside Nègre (lot 1), Bayard (lot 7) and Regnault (lot 5). To create his highly staged mise-en-scène, Humbert de Molard took inspiration from 17th century Dutch still-life painting and its 19th century French revival. Humbert de Molard took the majority of his photographs, including the present lot, at his château in Argentelle, Normandy and the surrounding areas. In Two Hunters , two men sit facing each other; the one on the steps holds his rifle, and the other, played by his steward Louis Dodier, sits on a stool, jug in hand, rifle leaning against the wall behind him. By placing the rifles in the centre of the composition, Humbert de Molard draws our eyes into the scene, leaving us to wonder what conversation is taking place between these hunters in a moment of rest from the task at hand. As with many of his images the figures dominate the space. The vertical and horizontal lines of the château walls create a pleasing visual rhythm. The exceptionally rare negative and positive pair, offered here, represents one of five known versions of this scene with the two hunters. In the others, the hunters look out beyond the frame, and in one variant, Louis Dodier holds a dead rabbit. By producing several scenes played out by the same subjects, Humbert de Molard demonstrates his interest in improvisation and artistic experimentation. Unencumbered by commercial concerns, Humbert de Molard explored the medium through depictions of genre scenes, evoking domestic life and the rustic countryside. We extend our sincere thanks to the Musée Gatien-Bonnet in Lagny-sur-Marne for assisting us in our research. Read More