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Lartigue, Jacques Henri

French (1894-1986)

BiographyThough he was not a well-known photographer until the 1960s, Jacques-Henri Lartigue made photographs all his life, and spent his childhood capturing spontaneous, joyful moments amongst his family and friends. In the 1910s and 20s, he enthusiastically photographed automobile races and sporting events, fashionable ladies of the Bois de Boulogne, kite flying and other childhood pastimes, capturing a sense of movement and fleeting moments that were remarkable at the time. As his practice developed, his images maintained a youthful informality that was concerned with movement and freedom rather than photographic technique, which was a direct departure from the formal, posed portraits typically associated with early 20th century photography. “I want to catch time,” Lartigue said about making photographs. “To see reality when it’s beautiful.”

Jacques-Henri Lartigue was born to a wealthy family in Western Paris and was given access to cameras at an early age and, from the age of six on, he kept detailed photo albums and diaries. He studied painting at Académie Julian in Paris from 1915 to 1916 and worked primarily as a painter, making photographs on the side as a hobby. Lartigue was “discovered” as a photographer in 1963, at the age of 69, and his work was soon after exhibited by the Museum of Modern Art and published in Life Magazine, gaining him international acclaim. He was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1975 and was the 1984 recipient of The Cultural Award from the German Society for Photography. Lartigue’s work is in the permanent collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Detroit Institute of Arts; and various others.