Malo 1ere; Simon 2e; Ribet
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
2005.100.588.1.126
Art Historical Context
In 1863, French photographer André-Adolpheugène Disdéri *Malo 1ere; Simon 2e; Ribet*, an albumen print from a glass negative exemplifies the vibrant portraiture of mid-19th-century Europe. This image, measuring 7 3/8 × 9 1/4 inches and mounted on a larger album page, likely depicts three individuals—possibly competitors or figures of note, as suggested by the evocative title— with the crisp detail characteristic of the era's photographic innovations. Disdéri a pioneer in commercial photography, revolutionized the medium in 1854 with the carte de visite, a small, affordable portrait format tha...
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...