Nadar

Life

Nadar, pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, (born April 5, 1820, Paris, France—died March 21, 1910, Paris), French writer, caricaturist, and photographer who is remembered primarily for his photographic portraits, which are considered to be among the best done in the 19th century. As a young man, he studied medicine in Lyon, France, but, when his father’s publishing house went bankrupt in 1838, he was forced to earn his own livelihood. He began to write newspaper articles that he signed “Nadar.” In 1842 he settled in Paris and began to sell caricatures to humour magazines. By 1853, although he still considered himself primarily a caricaturist, Nadar had become an expert photographer and had opened a portrait studio. His immediate success stemmed partly from his sense of showmanship. He had the entire building that housed his studio painted red and his name printed in gigantic letters across a 50-foot (15-metre) expanse of wall. The building became a local landmark and a favourite meeting place of the intelligentsia of Paris. When in 1874 the painters later known as Impressionists needed a place to hold their first exhibit, Nadar lent them his gallery. He was greatly pleased by the storm the exhibit raised; the notoriety was good for business.

Works