Pierre Dubreuil

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Pierre Dubreuil

Pierre Dubreuil (born March 5, 1872 in Lille , † January 9, 1944 in Grenoble ) was a French art photographer. He is considered a modernist in the midst of the Pictorialist movement.

Life

Biographical

Pierre Dubreuil was born on March 5, 1872 in Lille, an industrial city in northern France. As the son of a wealthy family, he was financially secure, so that later he could devote himself almost entirely to photography in his free time. Between 1888 and 1895 he attended the Collège Jesuite de Saint Joseph in Lille.

After completing his studies, he married his first wife Madeleine Marie, née Verley, in 1896, with whom he had three children, Suzanne, Georges and Antoinette. After 13 years of marriage, Dubreuil separated from Madeleine Marie, but returned to her after a two-year stay in Paris. The couple stayed together again until Madelein Marie's death in 1921. During the First World War his house was ransacked and almost all of his photographic equipment was stolen. This theft interrupted his photographic activities until 1923.

After the death of his first wife and his two children, Georges and Suzanne, he settled in Belgium in 1924. The following year he married Josephine, née Vanassche, and moved with her to Brussels. Dubreuil also survived his second wife, he died on January 9, 1944 in Grenoble, France, after his health deteriorated.

Career as a photographer

Pierre Dubreuils was interested in photography from 1888 when he began his studies at the Collège Jesuite in Saint-Joseph. However, only a few recordings have survived from this period. In 1896 he found recognition for the first time with his work Sombre Clarté , which was exhibited in Brussels. Shortly afterwards he won first prize at the Concours International Thorton Pickard with his picture Cimetière de Campagne , thus quickly gaining international reputation. In 1899 he became a member of the prestigious British photographer association Brotherhood of the Linked Ring .

After personal and professional setbacks during and after the First World War, he did not fully resume his photographic activities until 1923. In 1929 he was appointed a member of the "London Salon". After the "Photo-Secession" and the "Linked Ring" were dissolved, this was considered the most respected club for art photographers worldwide. Three years later he was appointed president of the "Association Belge de Photographie et de Cinématographie".

The Royal Photographic Society held a retrospective in his honor in 1935. Dubreuil did not produce any new works after 1935, but in his capacity as president of the Association Belge de Photographie he remained connected to photography.

plant

The Pictorialist Movement in France

In France, the Photo-Club de Paris was the first ever association of photographers to be founded with the aim of helping photography gain recognition as a medium of artistic expression. The entire pictorialist movement in France was then grouped around the Photo Club de Paris. At the same time, they wanted to create a counterpoint to ordinary amateur photography. Subjects such as landscape compositions and genre scenes, as can also be found in painting, were implemented by the French pictorialists using photographic means. Besides Pierre Dubreuil, the most famous French pictorialists include Constant Puyo and Robert Demachy , who became known as the “école francaise”.

Dubreuil's understanding of photography

The art of the "snapshot"

In his early phase from around 1896–1900, Dubreuil assumed that photographs of artistic value were more the result of chance and less lengthy studies and concentrated work. Such photography should therefore give the impression of immediacy. All tensions in the picture should be reduced for this. For the photographic capture of the “decisive moment”, as he called it, he consciously used a hand-held camera and tried to achieve the desired effect through enlargements.

Ideas pictures

Contrary to his initial conviction, Dubreuil began in the period before the First World War not to leave his recordings to chance, which he saw from then on rather as an enemy. The works of this time were an expression of modernity; However, he largely retained the techniques and the resulting blurring typical of pictorialistic recordings. He emphasized that the idea and detailed design of a work have to come before the content. His works should be the expression of an idea and should therefore be planned in advance. His ideas pictures upset the traditional order of objects in Pictorialism. He achieved the destruction of the familiar, hierarchically structured visual canon, among other things, by arranging unimportant objects in the foreground. Playing with unusual angles and new subjects also meant that his ideas pictures sometimes resembled puzzles. To realize these images, he turned away from the use of a handheld camera and began to work with a large, unwieldy camera, a tripod and a gently-focused lens from the Dallmeyer Bergheim brand.

Pierre Dubreuil - the modernist

Motif choice

religion

Religious subjects were an integral part of art photography. Popular subjects of Dubreuil were the expressive depiction of the Way of the Cross or Communion. At times he was heavily criticized for his choice of religious motifs, since it was believed that such a profane medium as photography was not appropriate for religious motifs.

Modern

Pierre Dubreuil experimented with techniques as early as 1908–1910 in Paris, which only found full attention and recognition in modern photography in the 1920s. This included, for example, the close-up, bird's and frog's eye view, abstractions and montage. The photocopying of pictures, which should emphasize the flat, two-dimensional nature of the photo, was also part of his repertoire. In addition, Dubreuil is considered to be one of the first photographers to take the Eiffel Tower, the epitome of modernity at that time, as the subject of a photograph. He also photographed new inventions such as the automobile. However, he consciously avoided pastoral, idyllic scenes, which were characteristic of the majority of pictorialist photographers.

Influences

Pierre Dubreuil was influenced like no other by the Photo Secession , but above all by Edward Steichen and the editor of Camera Work , Alfred Stieglitz. His fascination with the art of photography propagated in the United States by the Stieglitz group began in 1901 when Fred Holland Day presented the “New School of American Photography” in Paris. This led him to gradually adopt and perfect the methods of the American school, much to the surprise of his French colleagues. Dubreuil found in the pictures of his American colleagues what he valued most about photography: the expression of bold and unconventional ideas.

With the advent of cubism at the beginning of the 20th century, its style also changed. Many of his pictures, created between 1909 and 1911, obviously have cubist traits.

During his time in Belgium he was influenced by Belgian surrealism , James Ensor and the Dutch DeStijl movement. Meanwhile he seemed to turn away from the real world and withdraw into the world of fantasy and dreams.

Despite numerous very different influences, which have often changed his work over the years, he remained true to the pictorialist conventions throughout his life.

Exhibitions

Between 1896 and 1935 Dubreuil's works a. a. can be seen in the following exhibitions:

1896 Photo-Club de Paris (5 works)
1910 Open Section, exhibition at the Albright Gallery in Buffalo, New York (6 images)
1912 Little Gallery, Amateur Photographer Magazine, London (64 works)
1935 “Retrospective”, Royal Photographic Society, London

In addition, 39 of his photographs were printed in the annual French magazine "Annuaire général et international de la photographie".

Working method

Techniques for recording and positive production

At the beginning of his career, Dubreuil experimented with various printing techniques until around 1905 he completely devoted himself to oil printing using the Rawlins process, also known as bromo oil printing. This procedure gave him some leeway in the darkroom with regard to manipulating images. Pierre Dubreuil demonstrated his technical virtuosity through the subtle use of light effects, contrasts and tonal reproductions.

reception

National

Even if Dubreuil devoted himself to the American art photography school in the course of his career, he was named at the same time as the French greats of art photography Robert Demachy and Constant Puyo. The French critic Cyrille Menard wrote a 36-page article about Dubreuil and called him there as a "crosshead" and as an "eccentric" among the Pictorialists. Dubreuil was always a topic of conversation among those interested in photography in France and was well aware of it.

International

Despite initial discrediting in the pictorialist art photography movement, Dubreuil managed to gain international recognition within four years (1896–1900). The German critic Fritz Loescher wrote an article about the French photographer to express his enthusiasm for his unusual pictures. He wrote: "Dubreuil's pictures have been seen , they are seen through the eyes of an artist, they are taken with the most careful selection and then technically very skilful, but always carried out with enormous piety towards nature." Alfred Stieglitz also showed him his attention and admiration. Although he did not publish a recording of Dubreuil in his famous magazine “Camera Work”, he passed some on to the jury of the “Open Section” exhibition of the “International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography”.

Dubreuil's artistic end and rediscovery after his death

His last artistic phase

With the beginning of the First World War, as already mentioned, there was a break in Dubreuil's photographic career. By the time he took up photography again in 1923, pictorialism had already passed its peak and the movement had largely come to an end. Nevertheless, Dubreuil was incomprehensible about the "unfortunate banalities" which, in his opinion, were now being exhibited in the salons. In them the “artistic idea did not exist” and the “originality was completely absent”. Dubreuil continued his work, always looking for new ideas, incorporating the tendencies of modern art into his own work. In this last phase of his artistic creation he made use of daring proportions. His goal was to create a distorted world in which objects should be represented in a dualistic relationship. Dubreuil, however, expressed his ideas so indirectly that the contemporary audience completely misunderstood his works. His pictures were also rejected by “Photograms of the year”. Nevertheless, his works were featured in the annual edition from the mid-1920s to the end of 1930.

However, the critics of his day soon discovered that this controversial photographer was one of the groundbreaking modernists. In professional circles he was recently considered one of the figures who, through their influence, co-founded the “new photography”. However, it was not until 1935 that the Royal Photographic Society saw itself obliged to recognize Dubreuil's important achievements and to pay them due respect by means of a “retrospective”. In the years that followed, he published only a few photographs and was completely forgotten after his death in 1944.

The rediscovery

After almost fifty years of oblivion, the retrospective of selected works by Dubreuil in the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, marked the rediscovery of the misunderstood Pictorialist. The exhibition was thanks to the work of Tom Jacobson and Alan Sayag and took place in Paris between October 1987 and January 1988. This retrospective was not only significant in terms of the rediscovery of an unusual artist, but also proves that the origins of modern photography can be set earlier than previously assumed.

Quotes

"[...] a crank, a man striving after effect at all hazards, appealing to the mere bizarre and unusual, on order to make a sensation [...]." American Photography Magazine

"Every work should be the expression of an idea [...]. This must never be left to chance […]. I plan almost all of my works beforehand. ” Pierre Dubreuil

"Why should the inspiration that exudes from an artist's manipulation of the hairs of a brush be any different from that of the artist who bends at will the rays of light?" Pierre Dubreuil

“It doesn't take gigantic formats or technical artifacts to breathe the so-called soul into them; no, appearing as simple photographs, they unfold their entire irresistible magic. Dubreuil's pictures have been seen, they are seen through the eyes of an artist, they are taken with the most careful selection and then technically in the most skillful way, but always carried out with tremendous piety towards nature. ” Fritz Löscher on Dubreuil

“Un fantasque, un excentrique disent les us, un des rares disent les autres, qui, en France, aient des idées en photographie et qui resteront! Une telle contradiction n'a rien qui doive nous étonner; elle n'a jamais manqué à ceux qui ont laissé un nom dans la littérature ou les arts. […] Oui, Pierre Dubreuil - et il se sait mieux que personne sans en être autrement ému ou décourage - est très discute chez nous. […] Laissons faire au temps […] auréolant quand il en est besoin les étoiles trop modestes ou méconnues, et replongeant sans pitié dans l'ombre et l'oubli l'édifice éphémère des gloires factices et présomptueuses. ” Cyrille Menard, 1912

"Ce que j'aime, ce sont les grandes choses originales, synonyms pour moi de bizarres, les choses frappantes, n'ayant aucune attention à l'idée originale en tant que neuve [...]" Cyrille Menard, 1912

"It is useful to note how the pioneer impulse, which has been experimenting, searching and attempting surprising things in Paris, has touched the photographic outlook of M. Pierre Dubreuil. [...] The old paths, it seems, are growing too familiar for the modern spirit. The idea that you must arrest the beholder suddenly, violently, even brutally […] influences this collection. ” Review by Anthony Guest on Pierre Dubreuil's solo exhibition at the London Gallery, 1912

Works (selection)

Platinum print

Pietà, 1900. 25.8 cm × 31.5 cm - Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
Fantaisie, 1900. 16.5 cm × 19.5 cm - private
Ballerine collection , 1902. 23.3 cm × 13.3 cm - The Art Museum, Princeton University, Collection CH White
Le croquet, 1904. 18.1 cm × 22.2 cm - The Art Museum, Princeton University, Collection CH White
Départ pour la promenade, 1907. 24.6 cm × 19, 6 cm Provinciaal Museum voor Photographie, Anvers
Un geste / Le peintre Jamois, 1910. 19.7 cm × 24.2 cm private collection

oil pressure

Les Volants, 1901. 19.7 cm × 24.5 cm, private collection
Dans les Coulisses / Behind the Scenes, 1902. 24.4 cm × 19.0 cm
Versailles, approx. 1905. 24.8 cm × 19.7 cm
Petite place de province, 1908. 24.1 cm × 19.7 cm
Le Grand Monteau Blanc / The Beguinage in Winter, 1908. 19.7 cm × 20.7 cm
Fontaine, Place de la Concorde, 1908. 24.5 cm × 19.7 cm
Notre Dame de Paris, 1908. 21.4 cm × 17.5 cm
Eléphantaisie, 1908. 24.8 cm × 19.7 cm
La place de la Concorde. 1908, 23.5 cm × 19.7 cm
Grand Place, Bruxelles, 1908. 24.8 cm × 19.7 cm
L'Opéra / Jour de Pluie, 1909. 25.5 cm × 20.6 cm
Les Boulevards, 1909 23.5 cm × 19.7 cm
Puissance / Mightiness, 1909. 24.1 cm × 22.2 cm

literature

  • Michèle Auer, Michel Auer: Encyclopédie internationale des photographes de 1839 à nos jours. Hermance 1985, ISBN 2-903671-04-4 .
  • Janet E. Buerger: The Last Decade, The Emergence of Art Photography in the 1890s. New York 1984, ISBN 0-935398-09-0 .
  • Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil, Photographies 1896–1935. San Diego 1987, ISBN 2-85850-392-3 .
  • Fritz Loescher: International portrait art, Berlin. In: Photographic communications. No. 40, 1903, pp. 325-331.
  • Fritz Loescher: Tenth international exhibition of art photographs in Hamburg, Berlin. In: Photographic communications. No. 40, 1903, pp. 307-313.
  • Fritz Loescher: On the pictures by P. Dubreuil, Berlin. In: Photographic communications. No. 38, 1901, pp. 213-22.
  • Kristina Lowis: An Aesthetics of Art Photography in an International Context (1891–1914). Dissertation. Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf 2003, DNB 978115589 .
  • Michel Poivert: Le pictorialisme en France. Paris 1992, ISBN 2-905292-52-0 .

Web links

Selection of works by Dubreuil

Auction results

bibliography

Art Reviews

Catalog records, Royal Photographic Society

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896–1935. San Diego 1987, p. 12.
  2. ^ A b c Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896–1935. San Diego 1987, p. 89.
  3. ↑ Janet E. Buerger: The Last Decade - The Emergence of Art Photography in the 1890s. P. 24.
  4. ↑ a b Michel Poivert: Le pictorialisme en France. Paris 1992, p. 17.
  5. ^ Kristina Lowis: Aesthetics of Art Photography. In: An Aesthetics of Art Photography in an International Context (1891–1914). July 28, 2003. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ Janet E. Buerger: The Last Decade - The Emergence of Art Photography in the 1890s. P. 6.
  7. ^ Fritz Loescher: International portrait art, Berlin. In: Photographic communications. No. 40, 1903, p. 311.
  8. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 23.
  9. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 26.
  10. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 14.
  11. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 7.
  12. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 11.
  13. ^ Fritz Loescher: On the pictures by P.Dubreuil, Berlin. In: Photographic communications. No. 38, 1901, p. 215.
  14. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 18.
  15. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 25.
  16. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 26.
  17. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 30.
  18. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 6.
  19. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 16.
  20. ^ A b c Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896–1935. San Diego 1987, p. 13.
  21. ^ Fritz Loescher: On the pictures by P.Dubreuil, Berlin. In: Photographic communications. No. 38, 1901, p. 215.
  22. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 11.
  23. ^ Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896-1935. San Diego 1987, p. 23.
  24. ↑ All works come from: Tom Jacobson: Pierre Dubreuil - Photographies 1896–1935. San Diego 1987.
personal data
SURNAME Dubreuil, Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French fine art photographer
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Lille
DATE OF DEATH January 9, 1944
Place of death Grenoble