The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
Monsieur Merlen
1861
(French, 1819–1889)
Image: 19.9 x 23.1 cm (7 13/16 x 9 1/8 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
A small photograph mounted on card stock, called a carte-de-visite, was patented by Disdéri in 1854. Used for images of both ordinary and famous people, it gave birth to the craze of collecting celebrity portraits. By 1862 Disdéri had 90 employees producing over 2,000 prints a day, making him reputedly the world’s richest photographer. In contrast with the daguerreotype medallion portrait, carte-de-visite prints were economical and inexpensive. A camera with four lenses and a sliding plate holder produced eight sequential exposures on a single glass negative. The resulting paper print was cut up and the individual images were mounted. This uncut sheet was probably a proof produced for the sitter’s approval.- Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 140
- PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-November 29, 2020).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).19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000).
- {{cite web|title=Monsieur Merlen|url=false|author=André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri|year=1861|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.179