Gaspard-Félix Tournachon(Félix Nadar)

Adrianna TaylorPhoto 2

1st Period

Portrait of Félix Nadar (1820-1910)

Unidentified Photographer

Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Nadar: Facts

• Born April 6, 1820

• Died March 21, 1910

• Nationality: French, born and raised in Paris.

• Style: Photography, mainly focused on portraits.

• Preferred medium: salt and albumen print.

• Movement: Impressionism (1874)

Self Portrait

Nadar

Salt paper print

1856–58

Nadar: Bio

• Nadar was a writer, caricaturist (Le Charrivari), political activist, photographer, novelist, balloonist and mini inventor (Le Géant).

• Nadar inspired the character, Michael Ardan, in Jules Verne’s science fiction novel From the Earth to the Moon.

• One of the first to use and encourage artificial lighting in photographs. (Catacombs)

Disaster of the balloon "Le Géant"

Henry de Montaut

1863

Nadar: Bio con’t

• Was the first person to take aerial photographs in 1858.

• In 1955 the Prix Nadar award for photography in France was named after Nadar.

Nadar elevating Photography to Art

Honoré Daumier

Wood Engraving

Lithograph

May 26 1863

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923)

Nadar

Portrait

1864

Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)

Nadar

Portrait

1855

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875)

Nadar

Portrait

1854

Jules Favre (1809-1880)

Nadar

Portrait

1865

Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin (aka George Sand) (1804-1876)

Nadar

Portrait

1864

Paul Gustave Doré (1832-1883)

Nadar

Portrait

1855-1859

Léon Gambetta(1838-1882)

Nadar

Portrait

1870

Paris, 1866

Nadar

Aerial Image

Le Bris' flying machine

Nadar

1868

“Revolving”NadarSelf portrait1865

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Nadar_autoportrait_tournant.gif

Inspiration

• “The portrait I do best is of the person I know best.” — Félix Nadar, French Photographer

• On top of being the modern 19th-20th century Renaissance man, Nadar really took on what it means to be a true artist. In everything that he did he made it his own;

innovating and transforming it to become something new, different, and exciting. If he wasn’t drawing cartoons or writing novels, then he was taking photographs and inventing hot air balloons. I feel that Nadar was one of the few rare people to truly

be innately inspired. Every thing he created or attempted to create was strongly influenced by his passion to just create and explore. And if there is one external influence to Nadar’s inspiration it would be all around good natured curiosity. Having the ability to explore, discover, create, learn, and communicate I feel

inspired Félix Nadar and fueled his artistic drive.

Art Criticism

Description

• Photograph (Portrait)

• Sepia Tint

• Female subject

• Profile view

• Figure/subject is wrapped in cloth

• Only foreground and background

• Staged background

Analysis

• Form and lighting are the dominant qualities of this piece. Nadar was able to capture a nice range of values using minimum props. The subject’s profile view and slightly off centered position gives visual unity to the piece. The wrap allows for texture along with value and you get a sense of movement as the viewer unconsciously follows the subjects eyes.

Interpretation

• I am unclear if Nadar had any deeper meaning to this portrait besides displaying the subject as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

• However I feel that Nadar was aiming to create a clear image that gave calm and serene effect when gazed at.

Judgment

• I feel that this piece was successful because Nadar was able to portray the subject in an aesthetically pleasing manner through a carefully thought out and planned photograph.

• Allowing more than one elements and principles of art to influence his artistic decisions.

Questions

• What is the name of the novel that has a character inspired by Nadar?

a. From the Earth to the Moon

b. From the Stars to the Moon

c. From the Earth to the Stars

Answer

a. From the Earth to the Moon

• What medium did Nadar prefer to work in?

a. Albumen print

b. Salt print

c. Both a and b

Answer

c. Both a and b

• What was the name of the balloon that Nadar built in 1863?

a. Le Balloon

b. Le Géant

c. Le Aéronef

Answer

b. Le Géant

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadar_%28photographer%29

• http://www.boerner.net/jboerner/?p=1785

• http://www.jmam.org/Wier%20Education/New%20pdf%20files/FourStepsinArtCriticismwebready.pdf

• http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/godwin/hoen_l/artinsight1/art1projects/art%20criticism.pdf

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.propitchingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/question-mark.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.propitchingonline.com/%3Fattachment_id%3D12&usg=__Uf1KN85EfcGh0X_WxUR24xTuQeg=&h=848&w=566&sz=256&hl=en&start=0&sig2=m1eAf_KDA0QFP2tEpAnDHA&zoom=1&tbnid=luF87zNsavqymM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=120&ei=78BITceqMcH78Aa23fXyBg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dquestion%2Bmark%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D858%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=268&oei=9L5ITc3kMcqs8Abfn820Bg&esq=12&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=87&ty=99