Journey Through Time: France's Photographic Heritage Unveiled at Christie's
Highlighting a Rich Artistic Legacy and Pioneering Innovation
An exceptional assortment of groundbreaking French photographs from the 1800s and 1900s, featuring celebrated artists such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Nadar, and Man Ray, is soon to be presented for sale. This event honors France's two centuries of photographic invention, tracing back to Nicéphore Niépce's seminal work, View from the Window at Le Gras, widely recognized as the earliest camera-produced photograph from 1826–1827.
Christie's Commemorates Photography's Bicentennial with "A French Passion"
To commemorate France's bicentennial of photography, Christie's is organizing "Roger Therond Collection: A French Passion," an auction comprising over 350 photographic works. These items will be distributed across three distinct sales in Paris on November 13 and 14, with an online component running from November 6 to 17, coinciding with Paris Photo, the largest international photography art fair globally.
Roger Therond's Visionary Collection: A Window into Hidden Worlds
Roger Therond, a journalist who led Paris Match for five decades, dedicated years to amassing a collection that encapsulates significant milestones in French photography. While his journalistic career centered on contemporary events, his collecting pursuits offered a distinct outlook on photography, appreciating its capacity to unveil concealed narratives and worlds.
Key Figures and Influences in the Therond Collection
Therond's collection proudly displays works by influential figures of 19th-century French photography, including Auguste Belloc, Gustave Le Gray, Édouard Baldus, and Nadar. Additionally, he built an extensive compilation of 20th-century photography, acquiring pieces by artists who were pivotal in shaping the medium's trajectory. Among these were images by Man Ray (a naturalized French citizen), Dora Maar, Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Helmut Newton, and Guy Bourdin, several of whom were personal acquaintances of Therond.
Man Ray's "Le Baiser": An Enigmatic Masterpiece
A particularly cherished piece within Therond's collection was Man Ray's Le Baiser (The Kiss), with an estimated value ranging from $280,000 to $392,000 (€250,000–350,000). This photograph by Man Ray captures two figures, one of whom is photographer Lee Miller, yet deliberately obscures their full identities and relationship, leaving the interpretation open. Therond often encouraged his children to reflect on the photograph's multiple layers of meaning. As Therond famously remarked, as reported by Christie's, "A man and a woman? Two women? Two men wearing make-up? Let us not try to know. Instead, let us half-close our eyes and allow into our field of vision the black-clad Gypsy woman who emerges, beyond the photographer's intention, a dancing silhouette whose skirt billows like a corolla. And where are we? In another world, the world of the strange, the world of the unknown."