115 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) At L'Orme Saint-Gervais, 20 Rue du Temple (4th arrondissement), circa 1910 A relief sign depicting an elm tree on a stone pedestal, above a closed storefront bearing the banner “The business has moved to 52 & 54 rue Sedaine” and the inscription “L’Orme St Gervais has moved to 52 & 54 rue Sedaine (Bastille),” a plaque reading “L. Gautier, successor,” “For Sale” posters; the National Library’s stamp is visible in the image. Silver print 23.8 x 18.2 cm Inscription on the reverse: Pencil annotation: “At L’Orme St Gervais, 20 Rue du Temple (Closed in 1910) G045789 BNF,” “p. 232” Provenance: former collection of Jean-Marie Drot Bibliography: *Atget Paris*, introduction by Laure Beaumont-Maillet, Paris, Hazan, 1992, reproduced on p. 232. 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.