The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 17, 2025
Portrait of the Actor Pierre Bocage and Friend
c. 1860
(French)
Image: 24.1 x 17.8 cm (9 1/2 x 7 in.); Mounted: 45.1 x 30.1 cm (17 3/4 x 11 7/8 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.21
Location: Not on view
Description
Unlike the nearby two theatrical portraits, which show the actors in character, Bocage is shown as himself. Known by the stage name Bocage, Pierre-Martinien Tousez was a star of the Comédie-Française. Here he poses with a younger friend whose identity is unknown. Physical contact and gestures of affection between men are common in 19th- and early 20th-century photographs. They are most widely read as expressions of friendship, although some contemporary scholars suggest that a portion of these portraits could be coded expressions of romantic relationships.- 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).
- {{cite web|title=Portrait of the Actor Pierre Bocage and Friend|url=false|author=Eugène Colliau|year=c. 1860|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.21