Генрих Кюн – Heinrich Kuhn 1866– 1944 выдающийся немецкий фотограф один из основателей пикторализма в фотографии.Генрих Кюн является также создателем стиля фотоимпрессионизм. PHOTO BY HEINRICH KUHN

Art and Artists, Paintings, Painters, Prints, Printmakers, Illustration, Illustrators

Photographie d'un autochrome Prêtre en tenue d'officiant (dhoti orange, torse nu) dans le temple jaïn de Hathi Singh Ahmedabad, 20/12/1913 inv. A 4 177 Exposition "Infiniment Indes" Musée Albert-Khan, Boulogne-Billancourt, 92 Portraits, scènes de vie, architecture… : les "Archives de la planète" représentent un témoignage photographique et cinématographique unique du quotidien des habitants du monde au début du XXe siècle. Les missions financées par Albert Kahn dans plus de 50 pays ont permis de réunir une collection exceptionnelle d’autochromes et de films en noir et blanc.

Autochrome, 1910s.

Belgian painter Alfonse Van Besten (1865-1926) embraced technology, utilising innovative color processes to transfer black and white photographs into vivid, at times lurid autochromes. The tableaux of his autochromes (a technology patented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and the first colour photographic process developed on an industrial scale) are often bucolic and romantic. Demure ladies and … Continue reading "Alfonse Van Besten’s Dreamy Autochromes (1910-1915)"

So sah die Welt vor mehr als 100 Jahren in Farbe aus.

Although I am obsessed with fairy tales, and though I love the fashion and romance of the medieval era, especially as seen through the lens of the 19th and early 20th century artists, if I had to hop into a time machine and go back to any era, it would be the Edwardian era.

How an early-twentieth-century French banker shaped your favorite Instagram filters.

Albert Kahn’s photographic archive is a mesmerizing record of human history.

The method used to make these dreamy photographs resulted in a painting-like quality that not even today's best Instagram filters can replicate.

Belgian painter Alfonse Van Besten (1865-1926) embraced technology, utilising innovative color processes to transfer black and white photographs into vivid, at times lurid autochromes. The tableaux of his autochromes (a technology patented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and the first colour photographic process developed on an industrial scale) are often bucolic and romantic. Demure ladies and … Continue reading "Alfonse Van Besten’s Dreamy Autochromes (1910-1915)"

M.et Mme Imafuku en famille, Matsumoto. Photo de Roger Dumas,1926. (plaque autochrome) Musée Albert Kahn.

Almost 30 years before Kodachrome, two French brothers invented a way to take color photos. The autochrome process they developed gave the soft, slightly blurred images the feel of an Impressionist painting.

Mervyn O'Gorman was an English engineer whose artistic interests turned him into one of the early pioneers of color photography. Using the Autochrome

When you think of old photos or historical pictures, you naturally think in terms of black and white, but as you can see from these stunning vintage photos from the turn of the 20th century, color pictures have been around for a lot longer than you think.

Almost 30 years before Kodachrome, two French brothers invented a way to take color photos. The autochrome process they developed gave the soft, slightly blurred images the feel of an Impressionist painting.

Belgian painter Alfonse Van Besten (1865-1926) embraced technology, utilising innovative color processes to transfer black and white photographs into vivid, at times lurid autochromes. The tableaux of his autochromes (a technology patented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and the first colour photographic process developed on an industrial scale) are often bucolic and romantic. Demure ladies and … Continue reading "Alfonse Van Besten’s Dreamy Autochromes (1910-1915)"

The method used to make these dreamy photographs resulted in a painting-like quality that not even today's best Instagram filters can replicate.

Belgian painter Alfonse Van Besten (1865-1926) embraced technology, utilising innovative color processes to transfer black and white photographs into vivid, at times lurid autochromes. The tableaux of his autochromes (a technology patented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and the first colour photographic process developed on an industrial scale) are often bucolic and romantic. Demure ladies and … Continue reading "Alfonse Van Besten’s Dreamy Autochromes (1910-1915)"

Circa 1910. Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev ( 21 August/9 August 1871, Oryol – September 12, 1919, Mustamäki), Russian playwright, nove...

Mervyn O'Gorman was an English engineer whose artistic interests turned him into one of the early pioneers of color photography. Using the Autochrome

Marguerite Mespoulet The old costume of Claddagh [Ireland] 1913, May Autochrome 9 x 12 Musée Départmental Albert Kahn musée Albert-Kahn - département des hauts-de-seine (inv 3641)

An early form of color photography called autochrome gave pictures a "wonderful luminosity."

While I’m familiar with Raghu Rai’s iconic takes of Indian streets post-Independence, I was curious of Albert Kahn’s attempt at the same in 1913. Apparently Kahn’s greatest wish was to “Capture life, in the street, everywhere.” The year is the operative word. What did India of the street look like at the turn of the last century? How empty were the streets then? And what innocence of an ancient culture might I find in the eyes that posed for the photographers that Albert Kahn commissioned on their India Journeys as part of his project – The Archives of the Planet, even though it was only the twentieth century India the project covered while its glories as a civilisation lay in the centuries before. On stepping into the gallery I was surprised to face up to a large, lighted image of a devotee clad in bright saffron, bare-chested save for the strip of cloth across his chest and down his back. The contrast with the arched pillars in the passageway of the Hathi Singh Jain temple in Ahmedabad was striking as much for the architecture in marble as for the expression on the devotee’s face, standing as if in obeisance to the photographer, Georges Chevalier, as he made the picture in the winter of 1913. I did not expect to see colour images, surely not those documenting India in 1913. Apparently, the Lumiere Brothers patented Autochrome Lumiere in 1903 before marketing their colour photography process in 1907, and two years later in 1909 Albert Kahn set out to build his Archives of the Planet, driven by his vision to create a living memory of Humanity in colour and movement. The exhibition currently underway in Bombay at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is a throwback to the India of the early 20th century, in colour. The entire collection of Autochrome color plates shot in India in two phases (1913-14 and 1927-28) by the photographers working on Kahn’s project is not represented in the exhibits; only a small representation of the 1,200 Autochromes known to have been shot in India is on display. Even then it is mesmerizing considering the times in which it was conceived and implemented. Albert Kahn, a French banker and philanthropist of Jewish origin, committed his fortune to the realization of this project in an attempt to “promote peace and greater understanding of the world’s cultures”, hiring photographers to travel to over 50 countries and document their people and cultures. The project started in 1909 and ended in 1931 when Albert Kahn went bankrupt in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. He died in France in 1940 when under Nazi occupation during World War II. The project yielded 72,000 colour pictures in addition to over 100 hours of film. Albert Kahn commissioned high-end Louis Vuitton trunks for his cameramen to use on their assignments across the planet. A select few Indian Royals commissioned Louis Vuitton for “Art of Travel” trunks, notably the Maharajah of Holkar, the Prince and Princess of Pudokota, the Maharajah Bahadur of Jammu and Kashmir, and Jagatjit Singh, the Maharajah of Kapurtala. Some the trunks the Royals commissioned are on display as exhibits. I found the attention to detail fascinating. If it were not for the upper flap I might’ve mistaken it for a cupboard. The exhibits are spread across three floors. The ground floor exhibits are centered around a Louis Vuitton trunk that each of Kahn’s photographers used on their travels. Placed in the centre the red trunk is the key attraction along with portraits of a fierce looking Maulana Muhammad Ali, Head of Indian Khilafat Delegation, 1920, Sayaji Rao III, Maharajah of Baroda, Jagatjit Singh, Maharajah of Kapurtala, Rabindranath Tagore, and Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, 1920, among others. The picture of Rabindranath Tagore’s adopted grand daughter, Nandini Tagore, by Georges Chevalier in 1928 is particularly moving for the sheer colour and her expression. Albert Kahn held the Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, in high esteem. The India portion of his project was completed in two phases, first by Stephane Passet in the years 1913-14 and was followed by Roger Dumas towards the end of 1927 and the beginning of 1928 on invitation by Maharajah Jagatjit Singh of Kapurtala for his golden jubilee celebrations in Nov-Dec 1927. Later, Roger Dumas stayed on in India until February 1928, touring with the Maharajah through several Princely States in north-western India. Stephane Passet’s exhibits on the horse shoe shaped first floor gallery is titled Echoes & Dialogues of India and primarily cover the Bombay of 1913, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Amritsar, Agra, and Jaipur. The pictures are mostly images of religious places with a few stills from the streets. “Aha, the Hawa Mahal was so uncrowded then. Now the street is crowded with roadside shops,” whispered A. She was equally taken in by Agra pictures depicting two women who had just collected water, and clay homes with thatched roofs, their inhabitants posing in front; faces that survived the century even if their identities did not. Mumbai pictures were restricted to deities and temples. While we stopped by each image lighting up its space, black and white documentaries from the same period played on the screen. The photographers brought back over two hours of documentary footage they shot on their India travels. The second floor is devoted to Roger Dumas’ colour pictures from his 1927-28 India travels. Titled Princely Invitations, Maharajah of Kapurtala, the exhibits cover Kapurtala during Maharajah Jagatjit Singh’s golden jubilee celebrations. Kapurtala is noted as A piece of France at the foot of the Himalayas. Information on the exhibits notes that Jagatjit Singh was also the representative of the Indian Princes to the League of Nations. In June 1919, he signed the treaty of Versailles on their behalf which ended the Second World War. South, West, and East India are not represented in the exhibits. While much of India and its diversity is conspicuous by its absence in the exhibits, the collection is however remarkable for attempting to document aspects of India which would otherwise be lost to time. For this alone the exhibition is a must-see, a legacy Albert Kahn bequeathed to the world. It is a tribute to one man’s vision attempting to make a difference to his world. Note: After exhibiting at the NGMA, Delhi, 29 Nov – 27 Dec, 2009, the exhibition traveled to Mumbai and is currently on at the NGMA, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. It is open until 30 Jan, 2010. The gallery is closed on Mondays. Related Links 1. The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn 2. The Edwardians in Colour

Mervyn O'Gorman was an English engineer whose artistic interests turned him into one of the early pioneers of color photography. Using the Autochrome

The rise of photography in the mid-late 19th-century began the move away from an oral and literary tradition towards one based on image. A photograph can descri

Although I am obsessed with fairy tales, and though I love the fashion and romance of the medieval era, especially as seen through the lens of the 19th and early 20th century artists, if I had to hop into a time machine and go back to any era, it would be the Edwardian era.

Belgian painter Alfonse Van Besten (1865-1926) embraced technology, utilising innovative color processes to transfer black and white photographs into vivid, at times lurid autochromes. The tableaux of his autochromes (a technology patented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and the first colour photographic process developed on an industrial scale) are often bucolic and romantic. Demure ladies and … Continue reading "Alfonse Van Besten’s Dreamy Autochromes (1910-1915)"