Pierre Dubreuil

oil print, the photographer's monogram on the image, mounted, titled in pencil on the mount, signed 'P. Dubreuil, M. L. S. P.' in pencil, annotated '8. Luxembourg' in ink, and with the photographer's red 'DB 69' stamp on the reverse, 1912

London Salon of Photography, 1912

London, The Royal Photographic Society, Pierre Dubreuil, August 1935

Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Pierre Dubreuil Photographies 1896-1935, October 1987 - January 1988

San Diego, The Museum of Photographic Arts, Pierre Dubreuil Rediscovered: The Masterprints 1900-1935, September - November 1988, and traveling thereafter to:

New York, Alliance Française, 1989

The Detroit Institute of the Arts, 1990

Pierre Dubreuil, Photographs 1896-1935 (San Diego, 1987, in conjunction with the exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou), pl. 12 (this print)

'Criticisms of Readers prints,' The Amateur Photographer & Photographic News, 5 May 1913, Vol. LVII, No. 1492, Supplement, p. 6

This masterful oil print is in generally very good to excellent condition. It is a robust rendering, with lush charcoal blacks, bright highlights, and an impressive range of gray midtones. Along the lower edge there is an isolated area of dried adhesive. There is a small linear deposit of retouching in the lower right quadrant. When the photograph is examined very closely, faint rust-colored deposits of indeterminate nature, possibly foxing, are visible overall. The upper edge appears to have been ever-so-slightly unevenly trimmed, and there are razor-thin areas where the paper fiber is visible. There is a tack-hole at the upper edge of the mount. Primarily in the lower portion of the mount are rust-colored, small spots, possibly foxing. The corners of the mount are bumped. On the reverse of the mount along the upper edge is a thin strip of yellowed adhesive, likely from a previous secondary mount. Also on the reverse, 'D032 / M' is written in an unidentified hand in pencil.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Pierre Dubreuil was one of most widely exhibited Pictorialist photographers of his day.  La Fontaine de Carpeaux au Luxembourg was selected for inclusion in the prestigious London Salon of 1912.  In a contemporary review of the Salon that year, Frederick Colin Tilney discusses the present photograph in comparison to Paul Strand’s The Garden of Dreams, and extols Dubreuil as ‘a modernist among the moderns’ ('The Great Exhibitions,' Photograms of the Year, 1912, p. 20, quoted in Pierre Dubreuil, Photographs 1896-1935, p. 22-3).

In addition to being a master photographic technician, Dubreuil was one of the most imaginative photographers of his day.  In the present image, the 1874 monumental Fontaine de l’Observatoire in the Jardin Marco Polo in the 6^th arrondissement in Paris is rendered with evocative dynamism.  With characteristic ingenuity, Dubreuil evokes palpable tension by rendering the kinetic spray of the fountain water in opposition to the stationary sculpted horses. 

At the time of this writing, the photograph offered here is believed to be the only known surviving print of this image.  Dubreuil authority Tom Jacobson, from whose collection this photograph comes, reintroduced the work of the pioneering photographer to the world in the 1980s and brought these long-forgotten photographs to public attention through the international exhibition, Pierre Dubreuil, Photographs 1896–1935, and its accompanying catalogue, which remains the definitive text on Dubreuil.