78 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) Le Cabaret de l'Enfer, 53 Boulevard de Clichy (9th arrondissement) The famous facade of the Cabaret de l’Enfer: a door shaped like a monster’s mouth with sharp fangs, decorated with rocaille motifs, flames, and carved devils; barred windows; and a marquee bearing the letters “L’Enfer”; the neighboring café “Aux 9…” and “Salons” on the right; the National Library’s stamp is visible in the image. Silver print 24 x 18.5 cm Inscription on the reverse: Pencil annotations: “Cabaret de l’Enfer, 53 Blvd. de Clichy. (9th arrondissement) 1910–1912 – BNF,” “p. 578” Provenance: former Jean-Marie Drot collection Bibliography: *Atget Paris*, introduction by Laure Beaumont-Maillet, Paris, Hazan, 1992, reproduced on p. 578. Born in Libourne in 1857, Eugène Atget worked as a sailor and then as an actor before devoting himself to photography around 1890. Settling 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 Monuments Historiques, which saw them as an inventory 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.