Le petit Russe
1860s
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
9.5 x 11.7 cm. (3 3/4 x 4 5/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1975
Accession Number
1975.548.233
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Le Petit Russe** (The Little Russian), a delicate albumen silver print from glass negative by Pierre-Louiserson, captures the charm of 1860s photography at its finest. Created around this vibrant era of French portraiture, the image measures a compact 9.5 x 11.7 cm—ideal for the popular carte de visite format that made photography accessible to the masses. Pierson, a master of the medium associated with elite studios like Disderi, produced sharply detailed, richly toned prints that brought intimate moments to life. This poignant portrait features a child, evoking tenderness and curiosity th...
About the Artist
Pierre-Louis Pierson · 1822–1913
Pierre-Louis Pierson (1822–1913) was a pioneering French portrait photographer whose career spanned the formative years of the medium. Born on December 13, 1822, in Hinckange in the Moselle department, Pierson developed an early fascination with photography during the 1840s, as the daguerreotype was still in its infancy. His early life and formal training remain sparsely documented, but by 1844, h...