112 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) A la Grâce de Dieu, 121 rue Montmartre (2nd arrondissement), 1907 Wrought-iron sign: a small figure in a rowboat at the center of a large scrollwork design, above a glass door framed by grilles featuring interlocking C motifs; a poster is partially visible on the right. Silver print 23.8 x 18.2 cm Tear at the top Inscription on the reverse: Pencil annotation: “A la grâce de Dieu 121 rue Montmartre 2nd arr. 1907. BNF,” “p134” Provenance: former collection of Jean-Marie Drot Bibliography: *Atget Paris*, introduction by Laure Beaumont-Maillet, Paris, Hazan, 1992, reproduced on p. 134. 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.