Getty Museum
Pérignon
Creator
Nadar [Gaspard Félix Tournachon]French Photographer · 1820–1910
All works by this person →> The sun is only the practitioner, M[r]. Nadar is the artist who wants to give him some work. So wrote a critic of Gaspard Félix Tournachon in 1859. Tournachon's nickname, Nadar, derived from youthful slang, but became his professional signature and the name by which he is best known today. Poor but talented, Nadar began by scratching out a living as a freelance writer and caricaturist. His writi
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1855–1859
- Medium
- Salted paper print
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
In Nadar's portrait, the society painter Alexis Pérignon exudes a well-dressed prosperity slightly at odds with his weary expression. In 1856 he was decorated with the Legion of Honor, whose insignia he appears to wear on his outer lapel. Nadar's portrait of Pérignon bears scant resemblance to the painter's own work, save for his elaborate wardrobe. He is sad-eyed, his expression nearly plaintive, and he has no illusions about the image of gentle fatigue he will present. Although not impatient, he perhaps wished the photographic process were over--despite its brevity when compared to the multiple sittings required for his portrait paintings. By sitting for Nadar, Pérignon perhaps tacitly recognized the power of photography to endanger and supplant his own field of endeavor.
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