Collection Online as of November 30, 2023
Study after Nature
Julien Vallou de Villeneuve
(French, 1795–1866)
Waxed salt print from waxed paper negative
Image: 16.1 x 12.2 cm (6 5/16 x 4 13/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1993.163
Location
not on view
Description
In the early 1850s, despite protests from moralists, photographs of nudes (known as académies) were discreetly produced under the guise of "artist's studies." Among those most skilled at making such studies was Julien Vallou de Villeneuve. A successful painter and lithographer during the 1820s and 1830s before turning to photography in the early 1840s, he created a new repertoire of poses for artists to use as compositional aids. Among his clients was the French realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819–1877).
Julien Vallou de Villeneuve
Julien Vallou de Villeneuve French, 1795-1866
A painter who exhibited at the Paris Salons from 1814-40, Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (born in Boissy-Saint-Léger) was later known as a lithographer. He became interested in photography in 1842, shortly after the new medium's invention, as an aid to his graphic work. His subjects included fashion, costume, and daily life, as well as light erotica, sometimes published in conjunction with other artists.
By 1850 Vallou de Villeneuve had begun to practice photography in his studio, primarily female nudes and portraits of actors. In 1853-54 he published a series of nude studies, Études d'après nature, which were sold as artists models and to the general public. Several were used for well-known works by Gustave Courbet. Vallou de Villeneuve's works are admired for their emotional restraint, as well as for their masterful orchestration of form. A member of the Société héliographique in 1851, he helped found the Société française de photographie in 1854. T.W.F.