Etienne Carjat

Étienne Carjat (1824-1906) occupies a unique and transitional position in nineteenth-century French visual culture. Seamlessly navigating the roles of journalist, polemicist, and artist, he utilized both the rapid immediacy of caricature and the emerging technology of photography to document the tumultuous intellectual life of Paris. His commitment to shaping cultural opinion led him to co-found the satirical magazine Le Diogène and, later, to establish his own influential review, Le Boulevard. This dual professional focus allowed Carjat unparalleled access to the leading political, literary, and artistic figures of the Second Empire and the early Third Republic.

Carjat’s most potent contribution lies in the psychological depth of his portraiture. His visual works constitute a historical archive of the era’s giants, capturing subjects like the landscape painter Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, the celebrated novelist Alexandre Dumas, and, most famously, the complex poet and critic Charles Baudelaire. While his drawings and lithographic work, such as the examples titled Caricature of a Man, demonstrate a sharp, journalistic wit, his photographic studies offered a piercing realism. His definitive achievement remains the stark, high-contrast portrait of the young, defiant Arthur Rimbaud, taken in October 1871. This photograph instantly cemented the poet’s legendary status and remains one of the most replicated images in literary history, securing Carjat’s enduring reputation globally. These definitive examples are preserved in museum-quality collections internationally.

Carjat’s prolific photographic output, however, is subject to a curious historical fragmentation. In 1923, a large portion of his original photographic plate collection was sold to a Mr. Roth, after which the location of many vital prints became untraceable. This dispersal adds a touch of historical irony to the work of a man whose primary goal was documentation and preservation. Thankfully, numerous high-quality prints and original drawings survived this event, ensuring that his visual record of 19th-century genius remains accessible. Many surviving Etienne Carjat prints are now in the public domain, allowing scholars and enthusiasts to study these foundational images freely.