Mlle Simon; Me Simon, mère

Art Historical Context

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri created this elegant double portrait in 1862, capturing Mlle Simon alongside her mother in a formal studio setting. As a leading French photographer of the Second Empire, Disdéri helped popularize photography as an accessible art form through his innovative carte-de-visite process, allowed multiple small prints to be made from a single negative. This work reflects the growing demand for personal keepsakes among the middle and upper classes during a period when photography was rapidly transforming visual culture. The medium—an albumen silver print from a glass negative—offered remarkable sharpness and tonal depth, with the glossy surface enhancing the delicate textures of clothing and expressions. Measuring just over seven by nine inches on its album page, the print exemplifies the intimate scale favored for private collections. Its inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum’s Gilman Collection highlights the enduring value of early photographic experiments in preserving family moments and artistic innovation from the 1860s.

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...