Charles Nègre

albumen print, circa 1855

Collection of the photographer

By descent to his son, Charles Nègre

Collection of André Jammes, Paris, 1950s

Sotheby’s Paris, La Photographie III, Collection Marie-Thérèse et André Jammes: l’Oeuvre de Charles Nègre, 22 March 2002, Sale 2003, Lot 406

The pioneering photography collector and dealer, André Jammes, from whom this photograph originally comes, acquired Charles Nègre’s archive in the late 1950s from a descendant of the photographer.  Jammes brought this long-neglected work to public attention in 1963 with his exquisitely-produced book, Charles Nègre Photographe: 1820-1880.  Illustrated with tipped-in plates made from Nègre’s original negatives, the prize-winning book spurred new interest and a number of international exhibitions of Nègre’s work in the following decades.

The image offered here, of a small whippet posed on a table, represents a significant technical feat.  To capture his subject as crisply as possible, Nègre placed the dog in direct midday sunlight.  The intensity of the light would have allowed for a short exposure time, thus limiting the possibility of blur created by movement while the camera’s shutter was open.  Patience, on the part of the dog, and Nègre’s considerable skill combined to create an image that is remarkable for its immediacy and detail.