A major new UK exhibition, Jacques Henri Lartigue: Life in Colour, is dedicated to the rarely seen colour photographs by the pioneering 20th-century French photographer and painter Jacques Henri Lartigue. The exhibition is at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes until 4 October.
Lartigue's Colour Photography Revealed
Lartigue (1894–1986) is best known for his black-and-white photographs capturing the elegance and joie de vivre of high society and modern life, particularly during the early 20th-century Parisian belle époque. However, a new exhibition shows that he was also a bold and brilliant colour pioneer.
Until recently, the majority of Lartigue’s colour photographs had never been seen, despite representing nearly 40% of the over 100,000 images in his archive, the Donation JH Lartigue. The exhibition consists of over 150 of Lartigue’s works, focusing on his lesser-known colour photographs. It also includes his early experimental stereoscopic images, which produce three-dimensional effects, as well as vintage prints, unique works on paper and archival documents.
Early Experimentation with Colour
Lartigue began experimenting with early colour photography as a teenager, at a time when the process was still technically demanding and rarely used. His colour photographs from this period show intimate portraits of his family, friends and everyday life. In 1912, Lartigue became interested in autochrome, an early technique used to apply colour to photographs, which had recently been invented by the Lumière brothers.
However, the long exposure times and cumbersome equipment led him to focus on painting throughout the 1930s, until the use of modern colour photography became more widespread in the 1950s. In 1915, Lartigue attended painting classes at the Académie Julian in Paris before embarking on a career as a painter. In 1928, he stopped his autochrome practice.
Social Circle and Iconic Subjects
Although he did not receive widespread critical acclaim until later in life, Lartigue was at the centre of France’s golden era of creativity, moving within a social circle that included cultural icons such as Jean Cocteau, Grace Kelly and Pablo Picasso. The exhibition includes a photograph of Pablo Picasso at a bullfight in Vallauris (1965).
Lartigue also became known for his interest in documenting the speed and movement of new innovations, such as motor racing and aviation, and photographs of life on the French Riviera. He is regarded as a pioneer of the ‘spontaneous’ snapshot – a departure from the formal portraits that were typical of the time – which would later become known as street photography and popularised by Instagram.
Exhibition Highlights
The exhibition showcases the breadth of Lartigue’s career, from drawings he made as a child in the 1900s to his work in the fashion world of the 1960s, and his abstract floral photographs of the 1970s. Notable images include Florette Lartigue, probably for a nail polish ad (1961), Silvana Empain (1961), the Monaco Grand Prix (1956), and Jean Creff in parachute jumping (1964).
Lartigue was deeply connected to Italy due to the Italian origins of his wife, Florette. He visited Piozzo with Florette during their summers – a region known for its agricultural products. A photograph of corn drying in Piozzo (1956) is included in the exhibition. All images are courtesy of Ministère de la Culture, France/AAJHL.
