Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000353Monsieur Merlen
About the Artwork
The carte-de-visite, a small photograph mounted on card stock, was patented by André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri in 1854. This efficient, inexpensive process employed a camera with four lenses and a sliding plate holder that produced eight sequential exposures on a single glass negative. The resulting paper print was cut into individual images. This uncut sheet, which includes several humorous views, was probably produced for the sitter’s approval. The low cost of the carte-de-visite led to the trend of collecting celebrity portraits. By 1862, Disdéri’s studio was producing over 2,000 prints a day, making him reputedly the world’s richest photographer.
Inscriptions
Written in ink on recto: "25055 [sic]"; in pencil on verso: "24055 x M. Merlen"; in blue crayon on verso: "24055"
Exhibition history
19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000). France at the Dawn of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 24, 2010). Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017). PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-November 29, 2020). France in the Time of Manet and Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-August 23, 2026).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (French, 1819–1889)
- Date
- 1861
- Medium
- albumen print from wet collodion negative, uncut carte-de-visite proof print
- Dimensions
- Image: 19.9 x 23.1 cm (7 13/16 x 9 1/8 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Gift of Paula and Robert Hershkowitz in memory of Sam Wagstaff
- Accession no.
- 1995.179
More by André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00000353
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