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Lot Essay
« Parmi les documents que j’ai pu rassembler, il en est un sur lequel je m’attarde souvent : un livre en deux volumes reliés à couverture vert et or, donnés par Belloc – cadeau d’un alchimiste à un autre alchimite – à Humbert de Molard, célèbre daguerréotypiste et photographe des années 1850-1860. Durant cette grande époque, des pionniers ont découvert non seulement une technique mais un art. Inquiétés par la police et par les tribunaux, les artistes du nu se communiquaient leurs œuvres dites "licencieuses". Chaque page de ces deux albums est un petit chef-d’œuvre, où Belloc transforme en merveille un décor à force de faire vibrer drapés, tentures et modèles. » – Roger Therond, Le Nu, Éditions du Chêne, 2000.
Ces albums ont appartenu à Humbert de Molard, dont les initiales figurent en lettre d’or sur les couvertures. Sa fille, Louise, épousa le Vicomte Raoul Le Prévost d’Iray et leurs descendants léguèrent une partie de l’œuvre photographique de leur aïeul au musée d’Orsay en 1981, mais ces albums n’en furent pas partie.
“Among the documents I have been able to assemble, there is one to which I often return: a book in two green-and-gold bound volumes, given by Belloc, a gift from one alchemist to another, to Humbert de Molard, the celebrated daguerreotypist and photographer of the 1850s and 1860s. During that great era, pioneers discovered not only a technique but an art. Subject to scrutiny by the police and the courts, artists working with the nude circulated among themselves works deemed ‘licentious.’ Every page of these two albums is a small masterpiece, in which Belloc transforms a setting into a marvel through the vibrancy of draperies, hangings, and models.” – Roger Therond, Le Nu, Éditions du Chêne, 2000.
These albums belonged to Humbert de Molard, whose initials appear in gold lettering on the covers. His daughter, Louise, married Viscount Raoul Le Prévost d’Iray, and their descendants donated part of their ancestor’s photographic work to the Musée d’Orsay in 1981, although these albums were not among the materials included in that gift.
Ces albums ont appartenu à Humbert de Molard, dont les initiales figurent en lettre d’or sur les couvertures. Sa fille, Louise, épousa le Vicomte Raoul Le Prévost d’Iray et leurs descendants léguèrent une partie de l’œuvre photographique de leur aïeul au musée d’Orsay en 1981, mais ces albums n’en furent pas partie.
“Among the documents I have been able to assemble, there is one to which I often return: a book in two green-and-gold bound volumes, given by Belloc, a gift from one alchemist to another, to Humbert de Molard, the celebrated daguerreotypist and photographer of the 1850s and 1860s. During that great era, pioneers discovered not only a technique but an art. Subject to scrutiny by the police and the courts, artists working with the nude circulated among themselves works deemed ‘licentious.’ Every page of these two albums is a small masterpiece, in which Belloc transforms a setting into a marvel through the vibrancy of draperies, hangings, and models.” – Roger Therond, Le Nu, Éditions du Chêne, 2000.
These albums belonged to Humbert de Molard, whose initials appear in gold lettering on the covers. His daughter, Louise, married Viscount Raoul Le Prévost d’Iray, and their descendants donated part of their ancestor’s photographic work to the Musée d’Orsay in 1981, although these albums were not among the materials included in that gift.