1879
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Untitled (Pair of Portraits) is a 1879 by Etienne Carjat, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This photo shows two formal portraits side by side. On the left is a man in a dark suit, white shirt, and bow tie, with a mustache and serious expression. On the right is a woman in a high-necked dress, dark fabric, and a string of pearls, her hair pulled back neatly. The gold frames and sepia tones give it an old-fashioned look. These photos were likely taken together, showing a pair of people dressed for a special occasion. Look up The Cleveland Museum of Art to see where this portrait is kept.
The photographer would shoot a collodion negative on glass, then produce a positive version, possibly on glass. That would have been sent to a commercial firm which fused the images onto a glasslike coating on metal, a process fairly common in the late 1800s but now used primarily for grave headstones. The portraits were usually inset into a fancy box or tabletop frame for display in the couple’s home but could be made into portable mementos like the pocket-sized leather case.
This couple paid extra to have their portraits vitrified on enamel, a more permanent process than photographs on paper.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Étienne Carjat was a French journalist, caricaturist and photographer. He co-founded the magazine Le Diogène, and founded the review Le Boulevard. He is best known for his numerous portraits and caricatures of…
See the richer artist page
