Photo, Paint, Paris

Nadar, Self-Portrait, about 1856

French photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known as Nadar, would turn 104 this month, if he hadn't died about a 114 years ago. In Paris, about 1860, photography had just begun to bring to light many provocative questions about representation and art. (The word photography means light-writing.)

The characters interest me in part because of their connections to each other via work, love, family, rivalry, inspiration and play. You can see a few places the characters overlap in the 'photo-essay' below.

The Players, all as photographed by Nadar.


Nadar, Berthe Morisot, 1870


Nadar, Charles Baudelaire, ~1856

Nadar, Edouard Manet, 1865

Nadar in The Giant, the balloon he flew over Paris to photograph the city from above, "taking photography higher than any other art"

Not Félix but Paul Nadar, his son, released the shutter on this photo of Monet:

Paul Nadar, Claud Monet, 1899

And, for good measure, a painting of one of our players by another. Berthe Morisot is the grand-niece of the painter Fragonard  (we've looked at his painting The Happy Accident of the Swing)and the sister-in-law of Edouard Manet (who painted Olympia--which some call the first modern painting. .

Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets, 1872


Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot , 1872


Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot , 1874


Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot with a Fan, 1872


Edgar Dégas, Manet listening to his wife play Piano, 1870's


Edgar Dégas, Mary Cassatt Playing Cards, 1884


Edgar Dégas, Au Musee du Louvre (Miss Cassatt), 1879


Manet, caricature of Baudelaire, ~1865




Manet, Monet in his Floating Studio, ~1874


Manet, Déjeuner sure l'Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass), 1863

Monet, Déjeuner sure l'Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass), 1865