190 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) Porte d’Italie, a basket weaver in front of his trailer (13th arrondissement), 1912 A young man in a cap sits working amid wood shavings and wicker stems, in front of a cart adorned with a scalloped awning and a carved door through which two children can be seen; an armchair and chairs are being made, with other carts visible in the background; the National Library’s stamp is visible in the image. Silver print 18.2 x 23.8 cm Inscription on the reverse: Annotations: “Porte d’Italie 1912 (13th arrondissement). Zoniers” in ink; in pencil: “BNF 9.167 - G045805 - 20 C45041 [?] / Print 1959” Provenance: former Jean-Marie Drot collection 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 Historic Monuments department, 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.