Descriptive Summary
Biographical/Historical Note
Administrative Information
Digitized Material
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Exposition Universelle de Paris 1867 album
Date (inclusive): 1867
Number: 2002.R.11
Creator/Collector:
Bisson,
Auguste-Rosalie, 1826-1900
Physical Description:
1 album
(30 photographs)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Exposition Universelle de Paris 1867
contains 25 photographs taken by Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (Bisson Jeune) and five taken by
Charles-Louis Michelez. The album documents the buildings, grounds and exhibits of the 1867
Paris Exposition universelle in Paris.
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Language: Collection material is in
French
Biographical/Historical Note
Auguste-Rosalie Bisson, also known as Bisson Jeune (Bisson the younger), was a French
photographer. Between 1841 and 1864, he and his elder brother, Louis-Auguste, operated
Bisson frères their Paris photography studio.
Charles-Louis Michelez was a French photographer who had a studio in Paris from 1874 to
1884. He specialized in photographing works of art.
Pierre Petit was also a French photographer. He learned the daguerreotype process in Paris
and then worked in André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri's photography studio. He opened his own
studio in Paris in 1862. Napoleon III awarded Petit the exclusive rights to photograph the
e867 Paris Exposition universelle. Other French photographers vehemently objected to this
award, and they were ultimately given the right to take photographs at the exposition, which
ultimately cost Petit 2,000 francs. While Petit is credited on the mounts, he took none of
the photographs present in this album.
and is credited as such on the mounts. However, he took none of the photographs in this
album.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Exposition universelle de Paris 1867 album, 1867, The Getty Research Institute, Los
Angeles, Accession no. 2002.R.11.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2002r11
Processing History
The album was cataloged by Michelle Bigelow, who also wrote a preliminary inventory in
2007. The finding aid was revised and encoded by Linda Kleiger and Beth Ann Guynn in
2014.
Digitized Material
The collection was digitized by the repository in 2014 and the images are available
online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2002r11
Scope and Content of Collection
Almost all of the photographs in the album show exhibition building exteriors and interiors
devoid of people indicating that the photographs may have been taken before the opening of
the exhibition.
The first photograph in the album, by Bisson, is a panoramic view of the entire exhibition,
taken from above. Bisson's other photographs include exteriors of buildings; displays of
statuary, paintings, porcelain and crystal; and interior views of the gallery of machines
and the gallery of work. A photograph of the Russian gallery includes a row of men in
various ethnic costumes standing to one side. Another interior gallery view shows the
display of a Polish photographer, Maximilian Fajans of Warsaw; several examples of his work
are visible, including portraits of various kinds and landscapes.
Michelez was known for taking photographs of artworks, and three of his photographs are of
the Belgian, French, and Italian displays of paintings and other artworks. Another of
Michelez's photographs is an uncaptioned view of horse carriages on a street; the fifth
photograph by him is one of the few photographs in the album depicting people and shows a
large group of guide-interpreters.
The album is quarter bound with green cloth covers with the title gilt stamped on the front
cover. The mounts bear a letterpress caption above the image: Exposition universelle, 1867
Paris. Centered below each image is a crest with address: Ad
on
de la Concession, 47 rue Le Peletier. At the bottom left of each image is a caption
identifying the photographer of that image, variously: Bisson J
ne fecit photo; Michelez fecit photo. At the bottom right of each image is a
caption crediting the holder of the imperial commission to photograph the Exposition: Pierre
Petit Phot. de la Comm
on Impérial. Typeset captions
identifying each image are adhered to the lower right corner of the mounts on 29 of the 30
pages.
Titles are from the captions except for one which is devised.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series:
Series I. Exposition Universelle de Paris 1867 album, 1867.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Michelez, C. (Charles),
1817-approximately 1883
Petit, Pierre, 1832-
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
Exposition universelle de 1867 à
Paris
Subjects - Topics
Exhibition buildings -- Paris -- France
Exhibitions -- France
Genres and Forms of Material
Paris (France) -- Description and travel
Photographs, Original
Photograph albums -- France -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- France -- 19th century
Contributors
Bisson,
Auguste-Rosalie, 1826-1900