DOI Artikel:
Holland, Clive: Some notes upon the Pictorial School and its leaders in France
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27086#0103
FRANCE
discretion they soon rendered their position as leaders in this
particular school unassailable.
Progress in the pictorial side of photography in France has been
slow during the last few years, and this fact is admitted by most of
the leading workers. As M. Demachy himself has said, the progress
in the more elementary features of artistic work is rapid—these can
be learned in a month or two ; but afterwards—well, a year may
pass with any worker without his making any very appreciable
advance. The same is almost equally true of a body of workers
who may be experimenting or producing along identical lines.
New pictorialists of great promise seem to be discovered less
frequently in France than in either England or the United States.
But the first years of the new century were rich in that they pro-
duced some of the best pictures from Mile. C. Laguarde, and
MM. Dubreuil, Fauchier-Magnan, Yvon, Sollet, and Ecalle.
One marked feature of pictorial photography shown at the Photo
Salon, and at even provincial exhibitions, has been the absence of
ultra-eccentric work, a circumstance which may not be improperly
traced to the fact that French workers as a whole are gifted with a
sensitiveness which makes either the ridicule or severely trenchant
criticism which such pictures are liable to produce distasteful and
even shunned.
In 1903 Major Puyo, who had been for some time experimenting
with double and multiple “ gum ” printing in several colours, showed
some pleasing and extremely clever examples of this type of work.
Since then his initiative has been followed by several prominent
“ gum ” workers with some considerable degree of success.
One of the boldest experiments of the pictorialists yet made was the
Exhibition held at Nice, in 1903, of nude, draped, and genre subjects.
It was an invitation one, and contained pictures by most of the
leaders in these particular fields of photography. A special jury, in
which there were two ladies, Mme. Binder-Mestro and Mile. C.
Laguarde, was empanelled, and about half of the pictures submitted
were rejected as not sufficiently carrying out the conditions which
had been drawn up to govern their suitability for inclusion. It has
always proved to be a difficult matter to idealise the human form
when depicted by the camera, and most of the rejected works were
those which, though perhaps showing excellent technique and in a
sense beauty, yet failed by reason of the lack of the idealism which
was recognised as a sine qua non.
Amongst the leaders of pictorial photography in France few are
more deservedly prominent for having done good work than
F 3
discretion they soon rendered their position as leaders in this
particular school unassailable.
Progress in the pictorial side of photography in France has been
slow during the last few years, and this fact is admitted by most of
the leading workers. As M. Demachy himself has said, the progress
in the more elementary features of artistic work is rapid—these can
be learned in a month or two ; but afterwards—well, a year may
pass with any worker without his making any very appreciable
advance. The same is almost equally true of a body of workers
who may be experimenting or producing along identical lines.
New pictorialists of great promise seem to be discovered less
frequently in France than in either England or the United States.
But the first years of the new century were rich in that they pro-
duced some of the best pictures from Mile. C. Laguarde, and
MM. Dubreuil, Fauchier-Magnan, Yvon, Sollet, and Ecalle.
One marked feature of pictorial photography shown at the Photo
Salon, and at even provincial exhibitions, has been the absence of
ultra-eccentric work, a circumstance which may not be improperly
traced to the fact that French workers as a whole are gifted with a
sensitiveness which makes either the ridicule or severely trenchant
criticism which such pictures are liable to produce distasteful and
even shunned.
In 1903 Major Puyo, who had been for some time experimenting
with double and multiple “ gum ” printing in several colours, showed
some pleasing and extremely clever examples of this type of work.
Since then his initiative has been followed by several prominent
“ gum ” workers with some considerable degree of success.
One of the boldest experiments of the pictorialists yet made was the
Exhibition held at Nice, in 1903, of nude, draped, and genre subjects.
It was an invitation one, and contained pictures by most of the
leaders in these particular fields of photography. A special jury, in
which there were two ladies, Mme. Binder-Mestro and Mile. C.
Laguarde, was empanelled, and about half of the pictures submitted
were rejected as not sufficiently carrying out the conditions which
had been drawn up to govern their suitability for inclusion. It has
always proved to be a difficult matter to idealise the human form
when depicted by the camera, and most of the rejected works were
those which, though perhaps showing excellent technique and in a
sense beauty, yet failed by reason of the lack of the idealism which
was recognised as a sine qua non.
Amongst the leaders of pictorial photography in France few are
more deservedly prominent for having done good work than
F 3