Back to photostream

Francois Gobinet de Villecholle (Franck) - Cadets at the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, 1861

Maker: François-Marie-Louis-Alexandre Gobinet de Villecholle (aka Franck) (1816-1906)

Born: France

Active: France

Medium: albumen print from collodion glass negative

Size: 7.5" x 10"

Location: France

 

Object No. 2013.550

Shelf: A-36

 

Publication: Michel F. Braive, The Photograph, A Social History, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1966, pg 109

Michel F. Braive, Ruth Henry, Das Zeitalter der Photographie : von Niépce bis heute, Verlag Georg. D.W. Callwey, Munchen, 1965, pg 109

Photographies du Monde Entier, Binoche et Giquello, Paris, December 12, 2012, Lot 78

 

Other Collections: National Portrait Gallery

 

Provenance: Philippe Doublet

Rank: 1200

 

Notes: Gobinet de Villecholle (1816-1906) first started in literature and began his photography life as early as 1845 . He fairly quickly opened a studio that remained in business until 1880. He was also a professor at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures at Saint Cyr ( French military academy ) and at the Ecole polytechnique of which he was the official photographer. In 1856 He became member of the Société Française de Photographie and became famous for his taken during the 1871 events of the Paris commune This photograph representing an Ecole Polytechnique promotion in about 1860 is surprising as all students take a very specific and sometimes amusing pose as if the photographer took time to order them, one by one, to pose in a way or another which of course was impossible. The young future Polytechniciens therefore took to heart their improvised actor roles and from this scene, yet composed from somewhat stiffen portraits, results a full of joy and life painting.

 

The Ecole Polytechnique was established during the French Revolution in 1794 by Gaspard Monge, and it became a military school under Napoleon in 1804. It is still under the control of the French Ministry of Defence today. Initially, the school was located in the Latin Quarter of central Paris, and it moved to Palaiseau on the Saclay Plateau about 14 km southwest of Paris in 1976.

 

To view our archive organized by themes and subjects, visit: OUR COLLECTIONS

 

For information about reproducing this image, visit: THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE

5,039 views
5 faves
0 comments
Uploaded on August 31, 2013
Taken on September 8, 2013