[PROUST] BOYER, Paul (1861-1952)
Original photograph by Paul Boyer
Period albumin print (c. 1891). Carte-de-visite format (90 x 58 mm)
Very scarce original photograph of young Marcel Proust
Fact sheet
[PROUST] BOYER, Paul (1861-1952)
Original photograph by Paul Boyer (successor to Otto Van Bosch)
Period albumin print (c. 1891). Carte-de-visite format (90 x 58 mm) laminated on thick cardboard with the photographer’s name. Golden edges.
Some tiny spots, Mante-Proust collection stamp on verso
Famous portrait of young Marcel Proust by Paul Boyer, the only known period print
Like his portrait by Jacques-Émile Blanche painted at the same time, we find here the same thin mustache and delicate face of the writer. Elegantly combed and dressed in a dark suit, Proust here wears an imposing ascot around his neck.
Portraitist Paul Boyer took over Otto Van Bosch’s Paris studio in 1888. Located on Boulevard des Capucines and in Trouville, he worked until 1909.
This precious print was kept by the Proust family until 2016
Bibliography:
Proust. Documents iconographiques – G. Cattaui et P. Cailler, 1956, n°35
Passion Proust – L’album d’une vie, J. Picon, Paris, Textuel, 1999, p. 46
Marcel Proust, éd. M. Naturel, Michel Lafon, 2012, p. 59
Correspondance, t. I, Kolb, Plon, 1970 [en couverture]
Exhibition:
Marcel Proust, BnF,1965, n° 103 (this pose or the other one, taken during the same photo-session)
Provenance:
-Famille Proust
-Then Suzy Mante-Proust
-Then Patricia Mante-Proust
-Sotheby’s – 31 mai 2016, n°140
-Then E.D. collection