Jacques-Henri Lartigue French, 1894-1986 Born in Courbevoie, near Paris, Jacques-Henri Lartigue was seven years old when his father gave him a hand camera as a Christmas gift. The young Lartigue enthusiastically photographed the privileged world in which he lived, capturing scenes of daily life: elegant men and women promenading on the Bois de Boulogne, along the beach, or at the races; his older brother's exploits with a homemade glider and bobsleigh; the exciting speed of automobiles and flying machines. Fascinated by the world around him, he took numerous photographs, many unposed, preserving in these childhood images moments from the carefree, prosperous world of the Belle Epoque. Following studies at the Académie Julian, Lartigue's interest turned to painting. His photographs remained stored in private albums, known only to family and friends, until 1963 when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, held an exhibition of his work. Since that time a number of books and exhibitions have featured his images, and in 1979 Lartigue donated his work to the French government. M.M.