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Jacques-Henri Lartigue , French, 1894-1986

Title

Opio

Date1963

MediumArchival pigment print

Dimensions

38 × 49 cm

Credit LinePurchased, 2021

Object numberNGI.2023.7

DescriptionIn 1912, Lartigue got a taste of colour photography, which had fascinated him since the tender age of five. The early colour photography process known as “autochrome” was patented in 1903 and commercialised in France from 1907 by the Lumières brothers . Using a Klapp Nettel 6x13 stereoscopic camera, Lartigue was able to make his first autochrome plates. However, the strain involved in the shooting process didn’t match with his own wish to “catch something marvellous that happens in a split-second”. Consequently, between 1927 and 1948, Lartigue largely devoted himself to black and white photography. Finally, at almost 60 years of age, the technical progress in colour photography allowed him to capture a fleeting moment in colour. Using a Rolliflex 6×6, he mainly favoured a square format, which remained pertinent to the contemporary eye up until the 70s, while also shooting in 24×36 with his Leica. Lartigue’s photograph, Opio was made around the same time that he was beginning to gain recognition as a photographer and was take in the French village of Opio, where he settled in 1960. This work is completely in keeping with Lartigue’s style. Not satisfied enough to render the stunning red flower on its own, Lartigue includes the reflection of a vase and a bunch of flower petals against the background of a whitewashed wall. The stem of the vibrant red flower bleeds off the edge of the photograph in the same way that race car in Grand Prix de l’AFC, Dieppe zooms out of the picture space. When it came to colour photography, Lartigue was deeply interested in studying the effects of light and shadow and capturing reflections on film. Opio, 1963 is one such example of this and can be seen a rage of other works from that period, such as Florette, Vence, 1954 and Florette, Opio, 1969.
ProvenanceMinistère de la Culture - France; Estate of Jacques Henri Lartigue; Claire by Kahn Galerie; Purchased, 2021