Louis-Léon-César Faidherbe
c. 1876
Medium
Woodburytype, from the periodical “Galerie Contemporaine Littéraire, Artistique” (1879), volume 8
Dimensions
Image, oval: 19.7 × 14.9 cm (7 13/16 × 5 7/8 in.); Mount: 34 × 26 cm (13 7/16 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodburytype
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
144661
Art Historical Context
This striking woodburytype portrait captures Louis-Léon-Césaridherbe, a prominent French general and colonial administrator served as Governor of Senegal from 1854 to 1861 and 1863 to 1865. Produced around 1876 by Parisian photographer Étienne Carjat, renowned for his intimate portraits of intellectuals, writers, and public figures, the image appeared in the 1879 volume of *Galerie Contempor Littéraire, Artistique a lavish French periodical celebrating contemporary luminaries. Faidherbe's stern gaze and military bearing reflect his legacy as a key architect of French expansion in West Africa, ...
About the Artist
Etienne Carjat · 1828–1906
Étienne Carjat (1828–1906) was a French photographer, caricaturist, and journalist who became one of the defining portraitists of nineteenth-century Parisian cultural life. Born in Fareins in the Ain department, he arrived in Paris as a young man and initially made his name as a caricaturist and writer, contributing to several satirical publications and cofounding the journal Le Boulevard in 1861....