De: Serge Plantureux fotografia@atelier41.press
Objet: 17.04.2022 HOW DAGUERRE CONVINCED NIEPCE HE WAS HIS BUDDY INVENTOR : DESSIN-FUMEES
Date: 17 avril 2022 à 15:15
À: Serge Plantureux serge@plantureux.fr
"At the very moment when I thought that I would have no more relationship with Mr. Daguerre, he wrote to me and sent me a small drawing very elegantly framed, made with sepia and finished with the help of his process ..." (Niepce, 3 April 1827)
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Daguerre, Courtyard of a Gothic Castle, dessinfumée, 80x60 mm, 1827 (similar to the one Daguerre sent to Niépce, March 1827, see Nièpce correspondance, page 752)
Context, let's imagine you are in Paris, early 1827. Napoleon Bonaparte lost power, regained power, and finally lost power 12 years earlier. The Restoration saw the return of royalists after 25 years of exile. Gericault exhibited " Radeau de la Méduse " and Delacroix was soon to paint " Liberté guidant le peuple ". One of the most successful entrepreneurs in Paris is Mr. Daguerre with his Diorama which he even exported to London. He is on the lookout for all the novelties; by an indiscretion, he heard about a Mr. Niepce who would be on the point of who would have already succeeded in obtaining a way of producing images by the direct intervention of the light. But Mr. Niepce is far from Paris, Châlon-sur-Saône in winter, Saint-loup de Varennes in warmer seasons, he is far from the royalist circles of power, he is rather Bonapartist and he is very suspicious of this Mr. Daguerre. He tries to find out more about him and for that he writes to one of his Parisian correspondents:
2 February 1827, Niepce to Lemaitre: "— Do you know Mr. Daguerre, one of the inventors of the Diorama? Here is why I am asking you this question. This gentleman, having been informed, I do not know how, of the object of my research,
how, of the object of my research, wrote to me last year in January [1826], to let me know that for a long time he had been working on the same object, and to ask me if I had been happier than him in my results. However, according to him, he had already obtained some very astonishing results; and in spite of this he asked me to tell him first, if I thought it possible. I would not conceal from you, Sir, that such an incoherence had reason to surprise me to say nothing more. I am all the more discreet and reserved in my expressions, and nevertheless I wrote to him in a manner honest enough, obliging enough, to provoke a new answer from him.
I only received it today, that is to say after an interval of more than a year, and he sent it to me only to know where I stand, and to ask me to make him a proof, although he doubts that it is possible to be entirely satisfied with the shadows by this process of engraving; which makes him try research in another application holding rather to perfection than multiplicity. I will leave him in the path of perfection, and by a laconic answer, cut short relations in the multiplicity as you can well think Sir could become also unpleasant and tiresome to me. Please let me know if you know Monsieur Daguerre personally, and what opinion you have of him.
have of him.
"Connaissez-vous monsieur un des inventeurs du Diorama, Mr Daguerre ? Voici pourquoi je vous fais cette question. Ce monsieur, ayant été informé, je ne sais trop comment, de l’objet de mes recherches, m’écrivait l’an passé dans le courant de janvier [1826], pour me faire savoir que depuis fort longtemps, il s’occupait du même objet, et pour me demander si j’avais été plus heureux que lui dans mes résultats. Cependant à l'en croire, il en avait déjà obtenu de très étonnants ; et malgré cela il me prié de lui dire d’abord, si je croyais la chose possible. Je ne vous dissimulerait pas à Monsieur qu’une pareille incohérence eut lieu de me surprendre pour ne rien dire de plus. J’en suis d’autant plus discret et réservé dans mes expressions, et toutefois je lui écrivais d’une manière assez honnête, assez obligeante, pour provoquer de sa part, une nouvelle réponse.
Je ne la reçois qu’aujourd’hui, c’està-dire après un intervalle de plus d’un an et il me l’adresse uniquement pour savoir où j’en suis, et pour me prier de lui faire passer une épreuve, bien qu’il doute qu’il soit possible d’être entièrement satisfait des ombres par ce procédé de gravure ; ce qui lui fait tenter des recherches dans une autre application tenant plutôt à la perfection que la multiplicité. Je vais le laisser dans la voie de la
vais le laisser dans la voie de la perfection, et par une réponse laconique, couper court à des relations dans la multiplicité comme vous pouvez bien le penser Monsieur pourrait me devenir également désagréable et fatigante. Veuillez me mander si vous connaissez personnellement Monsieur Daguerre, et quelle opinion vous avez de lui. (Lettre de Niepce à Lemaitre, 2 février 1827)
Daguerre, Courtyard of a Gothic Castle, dessinfumée, 80x60 mm, 1827 (variant, similar to to the one Daguerre sent to Niépce, March 1827, with several variations, here only one silhouette), signed, pencil, on mount
How clever is Daguerre to obtain that letter from Lemaitre ? In any
that letter from Lemaitre ? In any case, he makes a brilliant move and sends a perfect gift to Niepce, just in time as we can understand from the next letter.
3 APRIL 1827, Niepce to Lemaitre:
"At the very moment when I thought that I would have no more relationship with Mr. Daguerre, he wrote to me and sent me a small drawing very elegantly framed, made with seppia and finished with the help of his process. This drawing, which represents an interior, produces a lot of e"ect; but it is di#cult to determine what is only the result of the application of the process, since the brush intervened. Perhaps, Sir, you already know this kind of drawing that the author calls "dessin-fumée", and which is sold at Alphonse Giraud. Whatever the intention of Mr. Daguerre may have been, as one thoughtfulness is worth another, I will pass him a plate of tin lightly engraved according to my process, by choosing for subject, one of the engravings that you sent to me; this communication not being able in any way to compromise the secret of my discovery." (Niepce to Lemaître, April 3, 1827)
"Au moment même où je croyais ne plus avoir à l’avenir de relation avec Monsieur Daguerre, il m’a écrit et m’a envoyé un petit dessin très élégamment encadré, fait à la seppia et terminé à l’aide de son procédé. Ce
et terminé à l’aide de son procédé. Ce dessin qui représente un intérieur produit beaucoup d’e"et ; mais il est di#cile de déterminer ce qui est uniquement le résultat de l’application du procédé, puisque le pinceau y est intervenu. Peut-être, Monsieur, connaîtriez-vous déjà cette sorte de dessin que l’auteur appelle dessin-fumée, et qui se vend chez Alphonse Giraud. Quelle qu'ait pu être l’intention de Monsieur Daguerre, comme une prévenance en vaut une autre, je lui ferai passer une planche d'étain légèrement gravée d’après mes procédés, en choisissant pour sujet, une des gravures que vous m’avez envoyées ; cette communication ne pouvant en aucune manière compromettre le secret de ma découverte." (Lettre de Niépce au graveur Lemaître, 3 avril 1827)
Daguerre, Courtyard of a Gothic Castle, dessinfumée, 80x60 mm, march 1827 (similar to the previous ones, without final touch)
Niepce acknowledges the dessinfumée as an appropriate present and sends one of the plates of his invention. Historians have since 1827 been trying to reconstruct if there is any valuable secret process in the making of the DessinFumée. The most recent attempt was conducted with a grant from Getty Conservation Center :
"The composition for the Courtyard began with an under drawing that was either copied or traced for the purpose of creating multiples. The drawing was further enhanced to create a scene of romanticism, achieved through the use of atmospheric lighting e"ects with washes of ink and selective application of gum, followed by a final application soot, likely from a candle... So What remains for this study?... What copy or tracing method, if any, did Daguerre employ to create “multiples” of the same composition. We have plans to explore use of a pantograph to create copies of underdrawings, but are interested in trying some tracing techniques as well." (Sarah Freeman and Nathan Daly, Deconstructing the
creation of Daguerre's dessinsfumées: a photographic process or just smake and mirrors, 2020)
Daguerre, under-drawing for the Courtyard of a Gothic Castle, dessin-fumée, 80x60 mm, march 1827 (the "secret" process of Daguerre)
Back to Paris, we have pieces of evidence transmitted to us within Niepce's papers ; Lemaitre's letter in response to Niepce's request for information can be read in several ways. Lemaitre is at first laudatory, almost "political", while ending with on a cautionary note which could be understood as a labsus, an admission of his personal role as indiscreet informant.
7 February 1827, Lemaître to
7 February 1827, Lemaître to Niepce: "As for my opinion of him, Mr. Daguerre as a painter has a great talent for imitation and an exquisite taste for the adjustments of his paintings. I believe him to have a rare intelligence for what has to do with machines and the e"ects of light; the amateur visiting his establishment can easily convince himself of this. I know that he has been working for a long time on the improvement of the darkroom without having known the purpose of his work. I approve of you breaking with him. It sometimes takes very little to put one on the track of a discovery of which one had no idea. I beg you to count on my discretion..."
"Quant à l’opinion que j’ai de lui, Monsieur Daguerre comme peintre a un grand talent d’imitation et un goût exquis pour les ajustements de ses tableaux je lui crois une intelligence rare pour ce qui a rapport aux machines et aux e"ets de la lumière ; l’amateur en visitant son établissement peut s’en convaincre facilement. Je sais qu’il s’occupe depuis longtemps du perfectionnement de la chambre noire sans néanmoins avoir connu le but de son travail. Je vous approuve de rompre avec lui. Il faut quelques fois peu de choses pour mettre sur la trace d’une découverte de laquelle on ne se doutait pas. Je vous prie de compter sur ma discrétion…" (Lettre
compter sur ma discrétion…" (Lettre de Lemaître à Niepce, 7 février 1827)
Nièpce, La Sainte Famille, heliograph, 210x180 mm, Spring 1826 (Collections de la Société Française de Photographie, Paris)
Nièpce presented this heliograph to Daguerre in June 4, 1827, and brought the Point de vue du Gras to London in the Autumn. The story continued with the famous association.
Now with the discovery of this unpublished series of three di"erent states, the intuition of Daguerre specialist, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Stephen Pinson can be scrutinized :
"It was only after careful consideration of the totality of Daguerre’s artistic career that I was able to see, in retrospect, this blurred line between the acheiropoietic and the handmade upon which his work rests. "( Stephen C. Pinson, Omphaloskeptical? On Daguerre, smoke drawing, finger painting, and photography, Photography and its origin, New York, 2015)
Daguerre, Ruins of a Gothic Abbay, dessinfumée, 80x60 mm, ca. march 1827
"The term Dessin-fumees, translates to smoke drawing. The Getty Museum’s collection holds two “smoke drawings” by Daguerre acquired through di"erent collections in 1984. Created around 1827, they pre-date the announcement of Daguerre’s eponymous photographic process by over a decade. While daguerreotype manuals and equipment were immediately made available to practitioners, answers to how Daguerre’s drawings were created and what they actually consist of continue to elude us. Small in size and in number – so far for this project we have counted 14* in public and private collections" Sarah Freeman and Nathan Daly, 2020.
(* before this recent discovery)
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