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(French, 1857-1927) TRIANON titled and numbered "Trianon 1234" by Berenice Abbott in pencil on verso of mount Berenice Abbott collection stamp on verso of mount vintage arrowroot print mounted by Abbott on board 83/4 x 611/16 in. (22.1 x 17 cm) mount: 141/3 x 119/16 in. (36.3 x 29.4 cm) circa 1923-24 PROVENANCE Berenice Abbott, MAINE Private Collection, NEW YORK (1970s) LITERATURE Berenice Abbott, THE WORLD OF ATGET, New York, 1964, pl. 33 (illustrated) Pierre Gassmann, ed., ATGET: VOYAGES EN VILLE, Paris, 1979, p. 100 (illustrated) John Szarkowski and Maria Morris Hambourg, THE WORK OF ATGET: VOLUME III, New York, 1983, p. 60, pl. 24 (illustrated) Michel Frizot, ed., LA NOUVELLE HISTOIRE DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE, Paris, 1994, p. 398 (illustrated) Michel Frizot, ed., A NEW HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY, Cologne, 1998, p. 398 (illustrated) Fuminori Yokoe and Kosei Ogura, EUGENE ATGET: A RETROSPECTIVE, Tokyo, 1998, p. 170, pl. 138 (illustrated) Jean-Claude Lemagny, ed., ATGET: THE PIONEER, New York, 2000, p. 124 (illustrated) Gerry Badger, EUGENE ATGET 55, London, 2001, p. 103 (illustrated) There is a certain kind of low raking light shining behind the camera that is tempting to use but that is difficult to manage, due to the photographer's own shadow. Solutions to this problem include eliminating the shadow through the camera angle, aligning it with the shadow of another object, or incorporating it as a formal element and making it a form of self-portrait. Here Atget successfully employed a combination of these solutions. Partially aligned with the shadow of a tree, he chose to allow the hard-edged shape of the camera on its tripod to fall near the base of the column and enliven the composition with its geometry. The other bust, isolated in a shaft of light serves as a counterbalance. The result is a wonderful dance of light and shadow echoed by the tree branch slithering along the right side of the frame. The head of the bust is tilted back, and dissolves into intense light, recalling portrayals of figures in ecstasy, a subject dear to the Surréalists who first published Atget's photographs in LA RÉVOLUTION SURRÉALISTE, one year after this photograph was made. Arrowroot prints are more accurately described as matte albumen prints in which arrowroot is used in the sizing of the paper. Unlike the more common albumen and printing-out-paper prints, they have an almost velvety matte surface, and are much sought after.
