id: 157680 accession number: 1995.179 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1995.179 updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:20.747000 Monsieur Merlen, 1861. André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (French, 1819–1889). Albumen print from wet collodion negative, uncut carte-de-visite proof print; 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Paula and Robert Hershkowitz in memory of Sam Wagstaff 1995.179 title: Monsieur Merlen title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1861 creation date earliest: 1861 creation date latest: 1861 current location: creditline: Gift of Paula and Robert Hershkowitz in memory of Sam Wagstaff copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: albumen print from wet collodion negative, uncut carte-de-visite proof print department: Photography collection: Photography type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (French, 1819–1889) - artist André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri French, 1819-1889 Disdéri is best known as a portraitist and popularizer of the carte-de-visite. He spent 10 years as a painter and working in the theater, and another five in the clothing business, before becoming seriously interested in photography around age 30. He first operated studios in Brest and Nîmes, then moved to Paris and opened a studio in 1854, and a second in 1863. In 1854 Disdéri patented the carte-de-visite, a method of producing a number of small images on a single negative that achieved great popularity. He later opened additional studios in London, Madrid, and Toulon. Disdéri was one of the best known portrait photographers of his day, with many important commissions and sitters. Like Mathew Brady, he was an innovator and entrepreneur as well as an artist. The carte-de-visite, which he did not invent, but rather adapted, helped photography to become increasingly versatile as a medium and available to people of all means. In 1879 Disdéri sold his business and moved to Nice. Despite his success, he died 10 years later in Paris in poverty, obscurity, and poor health. T.W.F. --- measurements: 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.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in ink on recto: "25055 [sic]"; in pencil on verso: "24055 x M. Merlen"; in blue crayon on verso: "24055" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: 19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2000-05-27T00:00:00 19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000). title: France at the Dawn of Photography opening date: 2009-10-04T00:00:00 France at the Dawn of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 24, 2010). title: Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century opening date: 2016-10-22T04:00:00 Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017). title: PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet opening date: 2020-02-07T05:00:00 PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-November 29, 2020). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. page number: Reproduced: P. 140 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1995.179/1995.179_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1995.179/1995.179_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1995.179/1995.179_full.tif