The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2026

A vertically oriented salted paper print depicts an older, stocky man with light skin, looking at us. Frizzy hair surrounds his head and his lips are set in a line. He wears a dark jacket over a high-collared white shirt and dark vest. His hands are clasped at his waist, his right hand clutching his left cuff, against a monochromatic background that transitions from light to dark shadows.

Alexandre Dumas père (1802-1870)

1855

Nadar

(French, 1820–1910)
France, 19th century
salted paper print from wet collodion negative
Image: 23.8 x 17.8 cm (9 3/8 x 7 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1983.198
Location: Not on view

Description

Nadar was a journalist, novelist, cartoonist, balloonist, lithographer, and, beginning in 1849, photographer. Like Brady’s establishments in America, Nadar’s Parisian studio quickly became a center for celebrity photography, selling compelling images of the major political and cultural figures of the time. Nadar avoided symbolic props and elaborate backgrounds; he let his sitters choose their own pose, putting them at ease enough to reveal glimpses of their true character. Dumas, one of France’s most popular authors, wrote The Three Musketeers. The year this portrait was made, he and Nadar were hoping to collaborate on a play, but their only joint production seems to have been this casual, intimate portrait.
  • Bibliothèque Nationale
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, and Tom E. Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. [Cleveland, OH]: The Museum, 1996. p. 18-19
    Turner, Evan H. "Year in Review for 1983." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 2 (1984): 38-79. p. 71, no. 99 repr. p. 71. 25159848
  • Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017).
    France at the Dawn of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 24, 2010).
    Drawn with Light: Pioneering French Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 26-June 16, 2005).
    19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000).
    Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, July 20 - Oct. 10, 1999: "Nadar Warhol: Paris-New York: Photography and Fame," exhibition catalogue p. 57, repr. p. 56. (Also exhibited at The Andy Warhol Museum, Nov. 6, 1999 - Jan. 30, 2000 and the Baltimore Museum of Art, March 12 - May 28, 2000.)
    Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984).
  • {{cite web|title=Alexandre Dumas père (1802-1870)|url=false|author=Nadar|year=1855|access-date=16 April 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1983.198