Laura Fonta - Laurency - Mourawieff - Rust - Fonta - Laurency - Mourawieff et Merante - Rust
1850s–60s
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 7 3/8 × 9 1/4 in. (18.8 × 23.5 cm) Album page: 10 3/8 × 13 3/4 in. (26.3 × 35 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.588.1.9
Art Historical Context
Step into the glittering world of 19th Parisian theater with this captivating albumen silver print by André-Adolphe-Eène Disdéri, a pioneer of photography. Titled *Laura Fonta - Laur - Mourawieff - Rust - Fonta - Laur - Mourawieff etante - Rust*, the image from the 1850s–60s likely features a of celebrated performers—possibly ballerinas or opera dancers—anged in a studio portrait that captures their poised elegance and star power. Disdéri, based in Paris, revolutionized portraiture with his invention of the carte de visite format, making celebrity photos affordable souvenirs for fans. Crafted...
About the Artist
André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri · 1819–1889
**André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri** (1819–1889) was a pioneering French photographer whose innovations transformed portraiture into a mass medium during the Second Empire. Born on March 28, 1819, in Paris, Disdéri pursued diverse careers in commerce, acting, and politics early on, while studying art amid personal hardships following his father's death, which compelled him to support his mother, sibli...