119 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) Au Franc Pinot, Quai de Bourbon (4th arrondissement), 1901–1903 Famous wrought-iron transom grille adorned with a bunch of grapes amid scrollwork and vine tendrils; inscription “Au Franc Pinot”; glass door reflecting the trees along the quay; pilasters in painted faux marble; stamp of the National Library visible in the image. Silver print 23.8 x 18.2 cm Inscription on the reverse: Pencil annotations: “Au Franc Pinot, Quai Bourbon—1901–1903—BNF,” “Photo 8,” “1) Top section,” “X2” in the center Provenance: former collection of Jean-Marie Drot 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.