Madame Gihoul

Art Historical Context

In the mid-1850s, French photographer Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehoul captured *Madame Gihoul*, a poised portrait that exemplifies the intimate artistry of early photography. Created between 1854 and 1856, this salted paper print from a paper negative measures 10 × 7⅝ inches and showcases a woman gazing directly at the viewer, her attire and setting evoking the refined domesticity of Second Empire France. Dubois de Nehoul, though lesser-known today, was part of a vibrant circle of Parisian photographers experimenting with the medium's potential for portraiture. The salted paper process, pioneered by William Henry Fox Talbot in the 1840s as the calotype, marked a revolutionary shift from unique daguerreotype images. By using a paper negative, photographers like Dubois de Nehoul could produce multiple positive prints, fostering photography's growth as an accessible art form. This technique lent images a soft, painterly quality with subtle tonal gradations, bridging painting and photography during a time when the camera was challenging traditional portrait conventions. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, *Madame Gihoul* highlights women's central role in early photographic portraits, often commissioned to preserve personal legacies. Its delicate tonality and empathetic composition invite visitors to ponder the era's blend of technological innovation and human connection.

About the Artist

Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut · 1799–1872

Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut (1799–1872) was a French artist and early enthusiast of photography whose career bridged the worlds of traditional draughtsmanship and the new mechanical image-making technologies that transformed visual culture in the nineteenth century. Trained in the conventions of French academic art, he possessed the skills of a practiced draughtsman before turning his ...