Nadar was famous for taking aerial photos of Paris from the basket of a hot air balloon. Daumier depicts Nadar as a bizarre and daring photographer, who will do anything to get a photo. Nadar’s hat is flying off and he is almost falling out of the hot air balloon. Daumier mocks the new declaration that photography could be equal to art. It is a satirical depiction of one of the most prominent photographers in Paris and it tries to capture the debate in the 19th century over whether photography could be considered art. All the buildings that he seems to be taking photos, have the word photography written on them in French. This conveys the idea that photography can be a photo of anything and shouldn’t technically be considered art. The artist mocks Nadar to show the ridiculous tactics that have to be used to elevate photography to the height of “high art”. This artwork serves as commentary on the 1862 court decision to recognize photography as art. It is on lithograph in black on white wove paper.
Nadar Elevating Photography to Art, Honore Daumier, 1862
“114. Nadar Elevating Photography to Art, Honoré Daumier – AP Art History.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/adairarthistory/iv-later-europe-and-americas/114-nadar-elevating-photography-to-art-honor-daumier.
“Early Photography: Niépce, Talbot and Muybridge.” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/enlightenment-revolution/a/early-photography-nipce-talbot-and-muybridge.