75 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) Cabaret du Gros Pavé, 8 rue du Roi-de-Sicile (4th arrondissement), 1910–1913 Street corner: facade of the “Restaurant du Gros Pavé” with barred windows, transom adorned with crowns, streetlamp on the corner, “House… for sale” sign; National Library stamp visible in the image. Silver print 23.5 x 19 cm Inscription on the reverse: Annotation in blue ink: “Cabaret du Gros Pavé 8 rue du Roi de Sicile”; in pencil: “(1910–1913) BNF. ” Provenance: former Jean-Marie Drot collection Born in Libourne in 1857, Eugène Atget worked as a sailor and then as an actor before devoting himself to photography around 1890. Based on Rue Campagne-Première, he produced “documents for artists” and spent nearly forty years photographing old Paris: streets, courtyards, storefronts, signs, small trades, parks, and interiors. His thousands of photographs were acquired by the National Library, the Carnavalet Museum, and the Historic Monuments department, which saw them as a record of a city in the process of disappearing. Man Ray and the Surrealists, followed by Berenice Abbott—who saved a large portion of his collection—revealed the poetic dimension of his work. He died in Paris in 1927 and is considered one of the fathers of modern documentary photography.