Fish Porters

About the Artwork

Little is known about Géniaux, who was active from the 1890s through the 1920s as a commercial photographer. Clearly a practitioner with a trained eye, he created this engaging portrait of two fish porters dressed in traditional work clothes complete with leather arm guards and metal identification badges. He positioned the men with their fish containers in front of a mounted sign listing the parking fees for vehicles bringing in and removing goods for the Paris Central Market. Géniaux's examinations of the city’s laborers were soon expanded by Eugène Atget (1856–1927), who methodically photographed the city and its inhabitants.

Inscriptions

written in pencil on verso: "Forts au poisson/ Q1798"

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).

Quick Overview

Artist: Paul Géniaux (French, 1873–1929)
Date: late 1890s
Medium: albumen print
Dimensions: Paper: 17.6 x 12.8 cm (6 15/16 x 5 1/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1999.108

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.