Pierre Dubreuil 1872-1944

oil print, the photographer’s monogram and date on the image, signed, titled, and annotated ‘Bruxelles,’ ‘Oil print,’ ‘London, Salon,’ and ‘M. S. L. P.' and 'M. C. P. S. A.’ by the photographer in ink and with the Museum's collection stamp, label, and accession number and other notations in unidentified hands in red and blue crayon on the reverse, 1929

The photographer to Dr. Max Thorek

Gift of Dr. Max Thorek, December 1935

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Imagination to Image, April - September 1999; and traveling thereafter to The Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee, September - December  2000;  and The Montclair, New Jersey, Art Museum, January - April 2001

It is believed that this print of The Aviator, also known as Titan du Ciel, is likely one of only three prints of the image in extant.  Only one print of this image has appeared at auction before (Sotheby’s New York, Sale 6599, Lot 40). 

During Dubreuil’s lifetime, this image was exhibited in the retrospective of Dubreuil’s work at the Royal Photographic Society, London, in 1935.  It was also included in the two major modern Dubreuil exhibitions: Pierre Dubreuil, Photographs 1896 – 1935 at the Musee d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, in 1987; and Pierre Dubreuil Rediscovered, at The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, in 1988, and traveling to Alliance Française, New York, and The Detroit Institute of Arts, in 1989-90.