WEEKLY TRANSMISSION N°39
THURSDAY 29th SEPTEMBER 2016 NADAR IN COLORS
n°3, detail
PARIS, 1885:
contents : NADAR IN COLORS Studio Nadar: 35, boulevard des Capucines and 51, rue d’Anjou addresses Tissue Stereo Cards «Le Théâtre de Nadar»
III VI
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n°1, detail
The e-bulletin presents articles as well as selections of books, albums, photographs and documents as they have been handed down to the actual owners by their creators and by amateurs from past generations. The physical descriptions, attributions, origins, and printing dates of the books and photographs have been carefully ascertained by collations and through close analysis of comparable works. When items are for sale, the prices are in Euros, and Paypal is accepted.
N°39 : NADAR IN COLORS
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Nadar, 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, 1860. (Copy-print). Following Legray, Bisson and DisdÊri, Nadar bring up his studio at 35, boulevard des Capucines in 1860. The local, a gallery at the 2nd floor above the mezzanine, together with a basement lot, is granted a lease of 23 years, starting 1st April 1860, by Mme Marie d’Etchegoyen, Baroness Paraza, with an annuity of 10,000 Frs for the first three years and 12,000 Frs for the following years.
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To raise the capital necessary for this workshop development, Nadar launches a company limited by shares, the «Sociétégénérale de photographie Félix Tournachon dit Nadar & Co». The capital of the company amounts to 200,000 francs of which 150,000 Frs reserved by Nadar and 50,000 Frs stock divided among eight shareholders: Lefranc, Van Lenden, Péreire Bankers in Paris, Charles and Eugene Philipon, journalists, Herald de Pagès, Théodore and Elie Molleveaux. Nadar, as the manager of this company, receive an annual salary of 12,000 Frs. The facade of the workshop is marked by a huge «Nadar» sign, executed by young Antoine Lumière then sign painter : "Everything inside and out, was painted red. Since the entrance opened on the boulevard to all pedestrians, to the fittings of the glass roof ... Nadar himself appeared to visitors dressed in a jacket red wool, which, with its large, red hair, his soft spot fangs and pale complexion, gave him quite the air of a big devil ... the albumen prints he delivered were lined with red, signature and address were printed in red. It was a veritable orgy of red" (cf. Ernest Lacan, Moniteur de la photographie, 1st December 1876). The Siege and Commune de Paris, March-June 1871, affect all the economy of the French capital, its cultural life and also the photographic business. Nadar is very active during the Siege with ballooning activities. He will now share his time between balloon and photography. In November 1871, Nadar leaves this Capucines workshop rented at exorbitant prices and buys two houses in an elegant area, near Walery and Liébert, at the corner of rue d'Anjou with rue des Mathurins, with a 60-years loan of 200,000 Frs by Credit Foncier and an advance of 180,000 F granted by Isaac Péreire. Nadar brings together the two houses in one hotel and settled in early 1872 at 51, rue d'Anjou Saint-Honoré, that turns into "a little artistic palace": "on the ground floor, a huge waiting lounge for 5 or 600 people, with a real exhibition gallery, organized for courses or conferences and upholstered of new photographic works produced by Mr. Nadar and skilled employees that he knows how to recruit ... adjoining the main gallery, two side rooms: one containing all the clichés executed in recent years .... another large room devoted solely to pure ballooning ... on the mezzanine, the studios for the designers, gluers, «cylindreurs» (ferrotypists), varnishers. On the first floor, laboratories, printing shops, and last but not least the photographic portraits studio". (cf. Ernest Lacan, ibid) In 1887, Ms. Nadar is paralyzed ... Félix Nadar then leaves the management of his workshop to his son Alexandre Paul Armand TOURNACHON-NADAR, dit Paul Nadar (1856-1839). Paul is already in charge of the theater photographic portraits since the early 1880s.
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Pierre Olry. Nadar studio, rue d’Anjou, Paris, circa 1950. Vintage silver print, 235x175 mm, stamped, annotated verso: «Les conditions dans lesquelles Michel Braive a acheté l’atelier Nadar». Vente binoche et Giquello, 10 novembre 2016
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Tissue Stereo Cards «There were some tissue stereo cards made that you would hold up to the light and see translucently, sometimes with some pinprick holes for sparkling highlights, other times with a surprise second layer appearing.» These rare series «Le Théâtre de Nadar» were published in 1885 by B et K, maison Benque et Klary, showroom 5 rue Royale. Benque and Klary are the pseudonyms of Rodolphe KNEUBUHLER dit BENQUE (1849-1885) and Charles Louis GRAINDEPICE dit KLARY (1837-....) (Cf. Marc Durand, De l’Image fixe à l’image animée).
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Mary Anderson, Paris, 1885. Albumen portrait tissue stereoview «Le Théâtre de Nadar» (Benque & Klary édit), 125x175 mm, hand colored. 150 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Coco-Félé, Paris, 1885. Stereo albumen paper transparencies, 125x175 mm, Benque & Klary édit., hand colored. «Deux lignes suffisent à juger Coco-Fêlé, féerie en plusieurs actes et tableaux représentée au Châtelet : c'est une gigantesque ineptie qu'on a sifflée le premier soir et qui dépassera peut-être une centaine de représentations sans avoir été applaudie de personne» (Courrier de l’art, 1er octobre 1885). 60 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Sarah Bernhardt dans Théodora de Victorien Sardou, Paris, 1882. Albumen portrait tissue stereoview «Le Théâtre de Nadar» (Benque & Klary édit., 1885), 125x175 mm, hand colored. 250 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Petit Poucet, les Bûcherons, Paris, 1885. Albumen portrait tissue stereoview «Le Théâtre de Nadar» (Benque & Klary édit), 125x175 mm, hand colored. 60 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Mlle Liébaux-Bellefond, Paris, 1885. Albumen portrait tissue stereoview «Le Théâtre de Nadar» (Benque & Klary édit), 125x175 mm, hand colored. 150 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Mlle Emma CalvĂŠ, Paris, 1885. Stereo albumen paper transparencies, 125x175 mm, strong tonality. 60 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Louise Magnier, Paris, 1885. Albumen portrait tissue stereoview «Le Théâtre de Nadar» (Benque & Klary édit), 125x175 mm, strong tonality. 60 euros
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PAUL NADAR (1856-1939). Maé Noël, Thibault, Paris, 1885. Albumen portrait tissue stereoview «Le Théâtre de Nadar» (Benque & Klary édit), 125x175 mm, strong tonality. 40 euros
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«Photography is a marvelous discovery, a science that has attracted the greatest intellects, an art that excites the most astute minds — and can be practiced by any imbecile» (Nadar) Number Thirty-Nine of the Weekly Transmission has been uploaded on Thursday 29th September 2016 at 15:15 (Paris time). Forthcoming uploads and transmissions on Thursdays : Thursday 6th October, Thursday 13th October, 15:15 (Paris time). serge@plantureux.fr
fax +33153016870
www.plantureux.fr