Portrait of Jules Janin, after Nadar
Charles Nègre
French, 1820–1880
1857
A photogravure print after a mid-19th-century studio photograph, made to translate a sitter’s presence and gravitas into warm, inked tones for wider circulation.
You’re struck by the sitter’s heavy silhouette and prominent sideburns rendered in soft, velvety blacks and grays, the close three‑quarter pose and rounded plate edges creating a quiet, intimate dignity.
It sits between early photographic portraiture and photomechanical reproduction, showing how photographers and printmakers preserved and spread recognizable likenesses and helped shape modern ideas of public fame.
Medium
Photogravure, printed 1982
Dimensions
8 × 6 1/2" (20.5 × 16.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
383.1983.12
Palette
Exhibitions
