Born into the family of a rich
French industrialist in 1894, Jacques Henri Lartigue started taking photographs
at the age of seven and continued taking them for the rest of his long life.
His early subjects included sport and aviation and he photographed many icons
of the early 20th century, including tennis player Suzanne Lenglen
and aviator Louis Bleriot. He also loved to photograph friends and family at
play, and this exhibition features many examples of this genre, taken between
1918 and 1930. Madeleine Messager (“Bibi”) was the daughter of a French
composer and an Irish opera singer. She moved in the same high society circles
as the Lartigue family and, after they met, she pursued the rather more
introverted Jacques Henri until, captivated by her Bohemian nature, he proposed
and they were married. The couple continued to live a glamorous lifestyle even
after the birth of a son in 1921. However, their relationship started to
founder following the tragic death of their second child, a daughter, a few
months after her birth in 1924. The couple continued to move in exalted circles
at a time when France, and in particular Paris, was the exciting centre of the
art world, but soon Lartigue embarked on a series of affairs and Bibi became
increasingly unhappy until, in 1929, she filed for divorce and the couple went
their separate ways. This exhibition features around 100 of Lartigue’s
photographs depicting his life with Bibi and documenting both an exciting era
and the highs and lows of their relationship.
For most of his life Lartigue was
simply a very gifted amateur photographer who, because of his wealthy
background, had no need to make a living. When he did run short of money he
turned to painting, rather than photography, to bolster his finances.
Consequently, the bulk of the huge collection of photographs left in his estate
simply depicts family and friends in informal surroundings. The exhibition
reveals a joyous panorama of the rich at play in France’s “Belle Epoque”; as
such, it is an important memoir of a golden era. The exhibition concentrates on
the relationship of Lartigue with Bibi, his first wife, and charts the rise and
fall of their relationship, with its status being revealed both by her body
language in the photographs and the role (dominant at first, almost superficial
towards the end) that she plays within the frame. Of course, the 100 or so
prints on display have been selected from a much larger back catalogue and they
may have been deliberately chosen to fit in with the perceived highs and lows
of the relationship. What is beyond doubt is that they both paint a vivid
picture of French high society at such an important time and reveal Lartigue’s
remarkable photographic compositional and artistic photographic talents, which enable him to bring his scenes
to life.
His subject matter ranges from
the cool formality of Bibi in a restaurant with sea views overlooking the sea
at Cap D’Antibes to the vibrant action and informality of a beach game at
Royen. Whilst both scenes may, to a greater or lesser extent, have been staged
for the photograph there is no evidence for this. Further photographs in the
exhibition appear to show Lartigue’s understanding of Gestalt principles (of
relevance to my current course) or, at least, his ability to compose
photographs that lead the viewer’s eye obediently through the scene. Lartigue
was also ahead of his time in having a penchant for panoramic scenes.
Despite Lartique’s prodigious
talent as a photographer it was only in 1963, at the age of 69, that he was
“discovered” in the USA, when an exhibition of his early work was exhibited at
the Museum of Modern Art, New York. As a consequence of this he finally
achieved fame and enjoyed an “Indian Summer” of achievement, culminating in his
being commissioned to provide the portrait of the newly-elected President of
France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in 1974 at the age of 80.
None of Lartigue’s later work is featured in this exhibition, although it was
only in his final years that he achieved commercial success.
The exhibition presents a fascinating insight into (a) the
lives of the rich in “Belle Epoque” France and (b) the highs and lows of a
marriage during this era, as seen through the eyes of an extremely gifted
amateur photographer. Lartique’s (natural?) talent for enlivening scenes
through the use of compositional cues and visual techniques is very
instructive.
Learning Points,
Future Work and References:
Lartigue composed
even the most casual photographs with skill, arranging the subject
matter in order to guide the observer’s eye through the frame.
The positioning of the camera above, below or level with his
subjects was also an important factor in the success of his compositions.
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