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Eugène Pelletan

Nadar French
1855–59
Not on view
No portraitist in any medium better rendered the spirit and intellect of his subjects through their physiognomies than Nadar did in his photographs of the leading figures of the Second Empire. This fine example, an unretouched print in pristine condition, was the first important portrait by him to be acquired by the Metropolitan. The glaring eyes, tousled hair, and deliberate pose of Pierre-Clément-Eugène Pelletan (1813–1884) vividly suggest the fiery, passionate prose of his essays on art, philosophy, history, social issues, the nature of progress, and liberty.


A few years before he took this photograph, Nadar wrote a thumbnail biography of the combative man it lionizes: "The number one French critic . . . who is at the same time a poet, a man of style, and a man with heart. . . . I have read critical articles by M. Pelletan . . . that moved me as much as a passage from Sand and interested me as much as a novel by Balzac."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Eugène Pelletan
  • Artist: Nadar (French, Paris 1820–1910 Paris)
  • Date: 1855–59
  • Medium: Salted paper print from glass negative
  • Dimensions: 23.5 x 17.6 cm (9 1/4 x 6 15/16 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Howard Gilman Foundation Gift and Rogers Fund, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.1198
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
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American Barque "Jane Tudor," Conway Bay, David Johnson British, Salted paper print from glass negative
American Barque "Jane Tudor," Conway Bay
David Johnson
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Jean-Francois Millet, Nadar French, Salted paper print from paper negative
Jean-Francois Millet
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Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
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