WEEKLY TRANSMISSION N°26 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016 SUMMER QUIZ : PORTRAITS OF GUSTAVE LE GRAY ON PAPER l i a t e d , V PWT 26-2016 CONTENTS : Examination of a Le Gray Picture from Sirot collection III Method, disproving/supporting evidence V Timeline of Gustave Le Gray’s home and studio addresses VIII Five early portraits of Gustave Le Gray by Henri Le Secq, 1848 1-5 Five portraits at Barrière de Clichy, 1849-1855 6-10 Three portraits at 35, Boulevard des Capucines and Ville d’Avray, 1856-1858 11-13 Two Silhouettes of Gustave Le Gray, 1851 14-15 Students of Gustave Le Gray or the First School for Creative Photography 20 V, detail The e-bulletin presents articles as well as selections of books, albums, photographs and ancient documents as they have been handed down to the actual owners by their creators and by amateurs from past generations. The physical descriptions, attributions, origins, and printing dates of the books and photographs have been carefully ascertained by collations and through close analysis of comparable works. This essay presents a timeline of portraits of Gustave Le Gray. Only one, «V» will be offered in an auction on 10 November 2016 (Paris, Drouot, Binoche & Giquello). N°26 : Portraits of Le Gray on paper Weekly Transmission 26 III 30 June 2016 . Examination of a Le Gray Picture from Sirot collection The salt paper print represents the portrait of a young man in a dark coat, his feet have been cropped, some foxing, wet stamp: «Gustave Le Gray». The verso shows a few pencil inscriptions «Portrait de Gustave Le Gray par Lui-même», «Catalogue Un Siècle de vision nouvelle n°2», «premier cachet de Gustave Le Gray», «Ancienne collection Sirot, A.J.». Georges Sirot is an important name for photography collectors and Un siècle de vision nouvelle is a very early exhibition catalogue (organized by Jean Adhémar in BNF, 1955). A.J. are the initials of André Jammes. Sirot, Adhémar, Jammes, three names which are three good reasons to examine more precisely the rather modest photographic portrait. JEAN ADHÉMAR. Un siècle de Vision nouvelle, Paris, BNF, 1955. Catalogue in-8, (2), 36, (2) pp, 226 notices, no illustration, notice n°2: «Gustave Le Gray par lui-même» (self portrait). The preface specifies : «Enfin, pour assurer une plus grande unité et ne pas montrer des épreuves pâlies, fatiguées, tachées, nous avons pris, à M. Sonthonnax, l’initiative de faire presque tout rephotographier dans un format uniforme par le service photographique de la Bibliothèque Nationale». Depuis soixante ans, combien de Sonthonnax, de rephotographeurs et de numériseurs pour le comfort de notre vision et de notre pensée ? Weekly Transmission 26 IV 30 June 2016 . «Portrait de Gustave Le Gray par Lui-même», «Cat. Un Siècle de vision nouvelle n°2», «premier cachet de G.L.G.», «Anc. coll. Sirot, A.J.» Weekly Transmission 17 V 28 April 2016 . Salt print, 210x170 mm, first Le Gray stamp on the left, retouching on the eyes and the hand. Weekly Transmission 26 VI 30 June 2016 . Method, listing disproving/supporting evidence One exclusive piece of disproving or supporting evidence would be enough to conclude the examination. But such decisive evidence is not common in the field of early photography. We were able to prove the provenance and interview André Jammes about the portrait, its identification in pencil by Sirot, and its presence in the 1955 exhibition, so we can accept that Sirot, Adhémar and Jammes considered the portrait as being a self portrait of Le Gray. We were also able to trace precisely its provenance and verify it was never presented to the public since 1955 nor never reproduced. Nevertheless, this young man looks quite different from the best known portraits of Le Gray. Our method was to look for all known portraits of Gustave Le Gray on paper and then to list the specific details to check and propose as disproving/supporting evidences : — The eyes — The eyebrows — The ears — The hair and haircut — The cloths — The height and weight We found one oil painting (VII), thirteen photographic portraits (1-13), and two less precise silhouettes on paper (14-15). They are presented in chronological order afer a timeline of Gustave Le Gray’s addresses in Paris and the Levant. We also listed all friends and students of Gustave Le Gray, searching whether one of them could match the model better than GLG. Weekly Transmission 26 VII 30 June 2016 . GUSTAVE LE GRAY BY HENRI LE SECQ. Rome, 1844. Oil on wood panel, 79x59 mm, Rouen Musée Lesecq des Tournelles. Weekly Transmission 26 VIII 30 June 2016 . Timeline of Gustave Le Gray’s home and studio addresses 1847: ARRIVAL IN PARIS Gustave Le Gray returns from Rome with his Italian wife Palmira and two baby girls Eulalie (born 4 June 1845) and Myriam (born 2 August 1846). The first family home in Paris is at 27, quai des Grands Augustins, then, in the first months of 1849, they move to 110, rue de Richelieu, just one block away from Auguste Mestral’s appartment at 48, rue Vivienne, where a group of young men experiment with photographic processes. LATE AUTUMN 1849: 7 CHEMIN DE RONDE DE LA BARRIÈRE DE CLICHY After a cholera pandemic outbreak in Paris and the death of two young children, Myriam and just-born Julie, Gustave Le Gray moves with his wife and the only surviving daughter Eulalie to a more healthy location, just outside the limits of the city, at 7, chemin de ronde de la Barrière de Clichy (renamed 21, boulevard des Batignolles). Today, the original shape of the building is still to be found in the modern neighborhood. 1856: HOME AT THE BARRIERE OF CLICHY AND STUDIO NEAR THE OPERA With the financial support of Marquis de Briges, Gustave Le Gray opens an extraordinary studio in the penthouse of the new building at 35, boulevard des Capucines, which also can still be perceived in the perspective of rue Scribe. His wife, daughter Eulalie, son Auguste (born 9 March 1851) and maybe Lodoiska (born 18 December 1853) remain at Barrière de Clichy, joined by baby Eugène (born 7 September 1857). AUTUMN 1858: 35 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES Sudden death of Eulalie during summer of 1858, at Grandmother’s place, Villiers-le-Bel, whyle Gustave was in Normandy. Palmira, Auguste and Eugène, the surviving family move with Gustave to the elegant premises at 35, boulevard des Capucines. 1860: BANKRUPCY The Marquis de Briges had financed the photographic company up to 100,000 francs-or. After his death, his two sons agreed to follow on through a contract registered September 1858, but one year later they organise the bankrupcy of the photographic studio and buy it at a public auction. After a short stay at 15, rue Saint-Lazare, Gustave Le Gray leaves Paris, where Palmira maybe remains with their only 2 surviving sons (out of 7 children). She will leave for Rome with the younguest, Eugène, on July 1862. Weekly Transmission 26 IX 30 June 2016 . JUNE 1860: PALERMO Arrival on 9 June 1860 in Palermo, reception by Garibaldi and expedition to Catania. Le Gray realize a celebrated series of negatives in Palermo after the fights, and several famous portraits but cannot print them. All the negatives will be printed in Paris by a former student, Eugène Colliau, with the stamp, «Colliau et Costet photographes 89 rue Marcadet». Alexandre Dumas and his guests leave for Malta after four weeks in Sicily on 7 July. JULY 1860: MALTA At Valetta, Island of Malta, on 13 July 1860, a dispute leads Dumas to ask Gustave Le Gray and two young infortunate companions, Édouard Lockroy and David Albanel, to quit his vessel. A young actress, Émilie Cordier, who had join Dumas and the boat in Naples could be the origine of the dispute. The group will stay one month in Valetta before making their way to turbulent Lebanon. (In June, The war in Mount Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley had caused inter-communal tension throughout Ottoman Syria and the Ottoman Empire had agreed on 3 August to the dispatch of up to 12,000 European soldiers to reestablish order). AUGUST-DECEMBER 1860: BEYROUTH - DAMASCUS - BAALBECK 10 August 1860, arrival at Beyrouth. Le Monde Illustré will publish illustrations from Le Gray’s photographs during the first months of the presence of the French expeditionary force. On 17 September, on the road to Damascus, Le Gray got a leg broken. In Novembre, for a couple of week, he set up his photographic studio in the first floor of the Temple of Jupiter. 1861-1864 ALEXANDRIA Staying three and half years in Alexandria, Gustave Le Gray will practice photography in the Hotel de l’Europe, place des Consuls (renamed place Mohammed Ali). JULY 1864 - JULY 1884 TWENTY YEARS IN CAIRO July 1864, Gustave Le Gray moves from Alexandria to Cairo, settles in an old house, Aroussi Palace, near Esbekieh Square. He is appointed professor at the Polythechnique, until his death in 1884. During 20 years, Professor «Lûgrih» will teach the art of perspective to young officers. Gustave Le Gray will never return to Paris but he will have at least a contact with Auguste, his only surviving child : he gave from Egypt his paternal permission for his wedding on 20 Mai 1882, the mother having not been traced. His brother Eugène being disappeared in 1878, Auguste will be the sole heir when Le Gray died in Cairo on 29 July 1884. He left 322 glass negatives and a few paper negatives. It does not mean he created only 322 negatives rather that he could not afford more glasses, he could just clean and re-use them.