Félix Bonfils Albumen Photograph "Chef de Bédouins Hasteurs"

Item Details

An albumen photographic print on paper titled Chef de Bédouins Hasteurs (Bedouin Chief) by well-listed writer and photographer Félix Bonfils (France, 1831 – 1885). The work depicts the full-length posed studio portrait of a Bedouin man with a drop-cloth background of palm trees. In plate, the work is titled and signed by the artist to the lower left and right corners. Housed between two layers of white matting.

Bonfils was a bookbinder, writer, and photographer who was most well-known for his works on Middle Eastern subject matter. In 1867, Bonfils moved his family to Beirut and opened a photography studio. His photographs ranged from posed studio shots to travel photographs throughout the Middle East and North Africa; including Biblical scenes and posed photographs in Middle Eastern regalia. His photographs were popular with tourists and the French public. His pictures can be found in a wide variety of institutions including the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem, the Semitic Museum at Harvard University, and the Netherlands Photography Museum in Rotterdam.

Condition

- the thin paper has started to wave; craquelure pattern in the chemical layers; overall yellowing to the photograph; areas of undeveloped white spots resulting from the original developing process of the photograph.

Dimensions

- measures the matting; sight size 7.75" W x 10.25" H.

Item #

17NYC052-224