103 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) Au Bourdon, Rue de Varenne (7th arrondissement) General view of the facade of the “Ambroise Wine Store… - Restaurant” bearing the sign “Au Bourdon”: wrought-iron balconies, a painted bell on the facade, scrollwork railings, a “Cider” poster, the owner in an apron, a napkin in hand, posing on the threshold; garden wall and trees on the right. Silver print 18.3 x 23.8 cm Inscription on the reverse: Annotation in ink, written upside down: “Au Bourdon, rue de Varenne (founded in 1793) ” Provenance: former collection of Jean-Marie Drot Born in Libourne in 1857, Eugène Atget was a sailor and then 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.