About the name, “The Romantic Agony” : Mario Praz (1896-1982) was an Italian-born critic of art and literature. His best-known book, The Romantic Agony (1933), was a comprehensive survey of the erotic and dark themes that characterized European authors of the late 18th and 19th centuries. The book was written and published first in Italian as La carne, la morte e il diavolo nella letteratura romantica in 1930, translated in French La Chair, la Mort et le Diable : le romantisme noir, Gallimard/Tel, 1998. The concepts that were presented in his The Romantic Agony have been shaped into his design and art criticism. Mario Praz has made a severe impact not only to the writings of interior design and decoration but also to the history, and the upkeep of this field of design. “Praz’s rediscovery of this minor but fascinating art . . . was a revelation, and the historic no less than aesthetic importance of the subject is now recognised by a group of informed collectors”
Transmission 16-2015
“The Romantic Agony”
Mario Praz' residence in Palazzo Primoli in Rome has been turned into the Museo Mario Praz.
Contents of Transmission 16-2015 : n°128
Seven silver and paper prints Preparing the 19-20 June auction A Remarkable Exhibition at MOMA A Remarkable Exhibition at NYPL Two covers you have missed
Uploaded at 3.15 pm Monday 20th April 2015 by Serge Plantureux at Montreuil
The e-bulletin presents books, albums, photographs and ancient documents as they have been transmitted to us by their creators and by the amateurs from past generations. The physical descriptions, attributions, origins, place and date of printing of books and photographs have been carefully ascertained with collations and comparisons with other prints or comparable samples (from our phototèque).
Number Sixteen of the weekly bulletin has been uploaded on monday, 20th April at 15:15 (Paris time). French captions are printed in black.
The books and photographs from all around the world are presented in chronological order. It is the privilege of ancient and authentic things to be presented in this fashion, mirroring the flow of ideas and creations.
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Serge Plantureux Rhinoceros & Cie Studios Robespierre 71 rue Robespierre 93100 Montreuil
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 128
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Eugène Disdéri (1819-1889) A Lost painting ? Paris, 1855 Large salt paper print, 214x290, all margins kept, nice tonality Large view of a framed painting, after or before being exhibited in the 1857 Salon — painting which could not be relocated. Provenance : Edmond Lebel
1.500 euros “Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BCE was one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare”
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 129
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Karl Popp de Szathmari (1812-1887) A New Capital Town : Bucarest, c. 1859 Albumen print, 102 x 113 mm, annotations. After the failed 1848 revolutions not all the Great Powers supported the Romanians' expressed desire to officially unite in a single state. But in the aftermath of the Crimean War, the electors in both Moldavia and Wallachia voted in 1859 for the same leader, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, as Domnitor, and the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia became a personal union formally under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. Following coup d'état in 1866, Cuza was exiled and replaced with Prince Carol I of Romania of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. At the end of World War II, territories which today roughly correspond to the Republic of Moldova were occupied by the Soviet Union, and a few years later Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and a capitalist market economy.
800 euros
“Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia”
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 130
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Hippolyte Blancard (1843-1924) attr. Headquarters of the Paris Commune Paris, 1871 End of 19th century silver print, 225x292 mm. Iconography of Paris Commune was hidden behind the curtain for more than a century. “Once the fighting began inside Paris, the strong neighborhood loyalties that had been an advantage of the Commune became something of a disadvantage: instead of an overall planned defense, each "quartier" fought desperately for its survival, and each was overcome in turn. The webs of narrow streets that made entire districts nearly impregnable in earlier Parisian revolutions had in the center been replaced by wide boulevards during Haussmann's renovation of Paris. The Versailles forces enjoyed a centralized command and had superior numbers. They had learned the tactics of street fighting and simply tunnelled through the walls of houses to outflank the Communards' barricades.”
400 euros “At two in the morning on 24 May, Brunel and his men went to the Hotel de Ville, which was still the headquarters of the Commune and of its chief executive, Delescluze. Wounded men were being tended in the halls ”
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 131
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Kgl. Preussischen Messbild-Anstalt zu Berlin Privathaus in Metz, 1895 Vintage exhibition silver print, 360x370 mm, stamps. “Since the Middle Ages, France sought to attain and preserve its "natural boundaries", which are the Pyrenees to the southwest, the Alps to the southeast, and the Rhine River to the northeast. These strategic aims led to the absorption of territories located west of the Rhine river. What is now known as Alsace was progressively conquered by Louis XIV in the 17th century, while Lorraine was integrated in the 18th century under Louis XV. The German nationalism, which arose following the French occupation of Germany, sought to unify all the German-speaking populations of Europe into a single nation-state. As various German dialects were spoken by most of the population of Alsace and Moselle (northern Lorraine), these regions were coveted by German nationalists. The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine (German: Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen or Elsass-Lothringen) was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle department of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east of the Vosges Mountains. The Lorraine section was in the upper Moselle valley to the north of the Vosges.” (Wikipedia)
1.200 euros “After 1870-1871, 1914-1918 and WWII, moves towards European integration were seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism that had devastated the continent.”
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 132
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Prof. Auguste Piccard (1884-1962) Landung am Gurgler Ferner, 1931 Two vintage silver print, 122x172 mm, on AgfaBrovira papers, plus one photographic postcard, Am 27. Mai 1931 starten Prof. Auguste Piccard und sein Assistent Ing. Paul Kipfer von Augsburg zu einem wissenschaftlichen Höhenflug und erreichen als erste Menschen mit einem Ballon die Stratosphäre auf 16.000 m. Wegen eines technischen Gebrechens an der Ventilleine landen die beiden Forscher zufällig am großen Gurgler Ferner in den Ötztaler Alpen bei Obergurgl. Dieses Ereignis ging damals durch die Weltpresse und hat das verschlafenen Bergbauerndorf international bekannt gemacht. Auguste Piccard schrieb in sein Bordbuch nach der glücklichen Landung: „Schönes, unbekanntes Hochgebirge, Gondel und Ballon liegen auf einem Gletscher".
300 euros “On May 27, 1931, Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer took off from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,781 m. (FAI Record File Number 10634) During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on the upper atmosphere, as well as measure cosmic rays. ”
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 133
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Hans Müller (Austrian Amateur ?) Der Fachmann Wien, early 1930’s Vintage exhibition silver print, 400x295 mm, indications at back : “N°1, Der FACHMANN, Ing. HANS MULLER, PIARISTENGASSE 60, Wien, VIII”. A nice example of an Austrian Photoclub production before WWII.
1.200 euros
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 134
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Guy Le Boyer (1800-1800) Outre-Quiévrain, 1930 Vintage silver print
L'expression Outre-Quiévrain est utilisée en France comme figure de style pour désigner la Belgique. Contrairement aux expressions plus anciennes et plus usitées d'Outre-Manche (pour le Royaume-Uni) ou d'Outre-Rhin (pour l'Allemagne) désignant la géographie naturelle de la frontière, Outre-Quiévrain fait référence à la ville frontalière belge de Quiévrain, ancien important point de passage ferroviaire entre les deux pays. Du xixe siècle jusqu'à la Première Guerre mondiale, Quiévrain abritait la gare-frontière de la ligne ParisBruxelles. Les trains s'arrêtaient et les voyageurs étaient soumis au contrôle de la douane, installée dans une aile du bâtiment. Passé la gare, on était « outre-Quiévrain ». Par extension, l'expression OutreQuiévrain est utilisée en Belgique pour désigner la France. Quiévrain is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. Shortly after the 1848 French Revolution, Belgian migrant workers living in Paris were encouraged to return to Belgium to establish a republic. The "Belgian Legion" was intended to penetrate into Belgium to "raise the people" and overthrow the Belgian monarchy. The first group, travelling by train, was stopped and quickly disarmed at Quiévrain on 26 March 1848.
300 euros “title”
Semaine 16 : 20-26 avril 2015 135
Week 16 : April 20-26, 2015
Uncredited photographer Masks Parade Pennsylvania, c. 1975 Vintage silver print, with the “Camerique Stock photos, Blue Bell, PA” stamp.
100 euros “Blue Bell was known as Pigeontown, after the large flocks of the now-extinct passenger pigeons that once gathered there. ”
Preparing June Auction
Vente en préparation
We are extremely pleased to announce that we are currently preparing a photographic auction which will last two days in Brussels at The Romantic Agony
Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que nous organisons une vente de photographies pendant deux jours à Bruxelles, The Romantic Agony
Next 19 & 20 June 2015
Les 19 et 20 juin prochains
previews :
Visites publiques :
in Paris, Galerie 5 rue du Perche, near the Picasso Museum 2 - 8 June, 11 am - 6 pm, reception on the 5th
à Paris, Galerie 5 rue du Perche, à côté du musée Picasso Du 2 au 8 juin 2015, de 11h à 18h, nocturne le 5
in Brussels, 40 rue de l’Aqueduc 10 - 18 June, 11 am - 6 pm, reception on the 12th
à Bruxelles, 40 rue de l’Aqueduc Du 10 au 18 juin 2015, de 11h à 18h, nocturne le 12
Press Release : 22 April
Communiqué de Presse : 22 Avril
Last day for consignements : 30 April
Cloture des consignations : 30 Avril
Catalogues available online : 18 May
Mise en ligne des pdf : 18 Mai
The Thomas Walther Collection at MOMA
The Thomas Walther Collection at MOMA
The MOMA’s Thomas Walther Single Collector Photographic Exhibition just closed yesterday. Every print is vintage, a pleasure for the eyes, and in good condition.
Internet’s interactivity. In December 2014, MoMA launched Object:Photo, a digital research platform featuring four data visualizations that allow visitors to explore the materials, techniques, and art historical context of these 341 modernist photographs.
If the concept of collection would still have a sense, a visit to this exhibition could warm the desire of every new candidate. The catalogue is heavy to bring back but the MOMA special site is a wonder. Respecting the space-time coordinates of the various artists’ creations : “When MoMA set out to make a website, the goal was to create an innovative resource that would take full advantage of the
The visualizations act as entry points: you can choose to map the photographs by where they were taken, view them grouped together according to the materials and techniques used, find relationships between the artists, or plot their lives on a map and timeline. Within each visualization, you can select or filter the content by topic.”
Public Eye: 175 Years of Sharing Photography at NYPL
Public Eye: 175 Years of Sharing Photography at NYPL
You loved The Day after Tommorow ? Do not miss Public Eye, the first-ever retrospective survey of photography organized by NYPL in its celebrated historic location at 42nd street and 5th avenue.
A beautiful mint copy of Talbot’s Pencil of Nature, with a dedication to Hippolyte Fizeau... Ranging from photography’s official announcement in 1839 to manifestations of its current pervasiveness, this landmark exhibition, drawn entirely from the Library’s collections, explores the various ways in which photography has been shared and made public. Photography has always been social.
This show, curated by Stephen Pinson takes advantage of this moment to reframe the way we look at photographs from the past... To what ends has the street served as a venue for photographic practice since its beginnings ? And, of more recent concern, are we risking our privacy in pursuit of a more public photography ?
The show had 150.000 visitors and rather than being closed now will be prolonged until the end of this year.
The covers you have missed
The covers you have missed
Transmission
Transmission
16-2015
16-2015
“The Romantic Agony”
“The Romantic Agony”
n°132
Uploaded at 3.15 pm Monday 20th April 2015 Studios Robespierre
n°135
Uploaded at 3.15 pm Monday 20th April 2015 Studios Robespierre