Denise Colomb

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Denise Loeb , with the stage name Denise Colomb (born April 1, 1902 in Paris ; † January 1, 2004 there ), was a French photographer , sister of the art collector and dealer Pierre Loeb . She mainly created portraits , especially of artists , but also photographed landscapes and everyday scenes as well as the Parisian Quartier des Halles during her travels . Along with Roger André, she is considered one of the great portraitists of the mid-20th century.

Life

Denise Loeb studied in the violin class of the Conservatoire de Paris violin . From 1935 to 1937 she lived with her husband Gilbert Cahen in Indochina , where she devoted herself to photography and created her first portraits of anonymous people.

During the Second World War she took on the stage name Denise Colomb. She made numerous trips, including at the invitation of Aimé Césaire in 1948 to the Antilles , later also to India , Israel and various European countries. She has worked for several revues such as Le Leicaïste , Regards , Le Photographe and Réalités and has taken on commissioned work for Point de vue-Images du Monde .

The work of her brother Pierre Loeb, owner of the prestigious “Galerie Pierre” in the rue des Beaux-Arts in Saint-Germain-des-Prés , allowed her to meet numerous painters and sculptors. Shooting with the ever-frightened Antonin Artaud in 1947 led to her decision to specialize in artist portraits. The photographer herself described this moment as follows: “He kept changing expressions. I barely had time to recharge and pull the trigger. His hands were as tragic as his face. You'd think he was handcuffed. I was shocked. "

In the following decades she ceaselessly sought out painters and sculptors in order to discover the secret of artistic creation in her workshops and in her facial features. Denise Colomb defined the encounter with Nicolas de Staël as the big shock of her career. In 1954, shortly before the painter's suicide, she managed to capture his restless, worried personality and the distant gaze lost.

The artist adopted the technique of pseudo-solarization from Man Ray , for example in the portrait of Françoise (1957). This work also illustrates the influence of Picasso , who very often depicted the frontal view and the profile of the model at the same time in his head portraits.

The late work was characterized by new motifs, such as veiled women, African masks and glass heads. In 2002, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, the photographer was honored through exhibitions in several Parisian galleries.

Denise Loeb alias Colomb died in 2004 at the age of 101 in her Parisian apartment across from the Musée Picasso .

She was the great-aunt of the chanson singer, actress and director Caroline Loeb (* 1955) and the actor Martin Loeb (* 1959).

Factory selection

Denise Colomb transferred her work to the French state in 1991. The "Denise Colomb Fund" comprises 52,000 negatives, 2,600 original prints and documents from the photographer's personal possession. It is maintained and stored by the Association Patrimoine photographique under the patronage of the Direction de l'architecture et du patrimoine, which is dependent on the French Ministry of Culture .

Artist portraits (1947–1998):

Writings and photo books :

  • with Jean-Louis Valas: Ponts de Paris. Editions Albin Michel, Paris 1951.
  • Ronde de Nuits, Rêves et photographies par Denise Colomb. Fata Morgana, Fontfroide 1994.
  • with Jean-Claude Lemagny: Portraits. Editions La Manufacture, Lyon 1996.
  • Instantanés. La Chambre Editeur, 1999, ISBN 2-913925-00-6 .
  • Vagabondages, errance de la mémoire. Filigree Editions, Paris 2002.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "  Il changeait tout le temps d'expression. J'avais à peine le temps d'armer et d'appuyer. Ses mains étaient also tragiques que son visage. On aurait dit qu'il avait des menottes. J'étais bouleversée.  » Expositions.bnf.fr
personal data
SURNAME Colomb, Denise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Loeb, Denise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French photographer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 2004
Place of death Paris