PIERRE DUBREUIL | 'THE SHUTTLECOCK' (LE VOLANT)

Sotheby's Belgravia, 27 March 1981, Lot 548

Collection of Serge Bramly

Acquired from the above

The Amateur Photographer & Photographic News, 25 March 1912, vol. IV, no. 1434, cover

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

One of the most widely-exhibited Pictorialist photographers of his day, Pierre Dubreuil found early critical success with ‘The Shuttlecock,’ better known as Le Volant. In 1901, a carbon print of the image was included in the prestigious Royal Photographic Society’s 46^th annual exhibition in London. More than a decade later in 1912, an oil print – possibly the photograph offered here – was one of the 64 photographs by Dubreuil shown in his first one-man exhibition, held at The Amateur Photographer ‘Little Gallery’ in London. Other key images such as Notre Dame de Paris and La Place de la Concorde were featured in this retrospective, but it was Le Volant that was selected to advertise the exhibition on the cover of the March 1912 issue of The Amateur Photographer & Photographic News.

In the hands of another artist, Le Volant might simply be a charming view of children at play, and contemporary reviews from the turn of the century made ample comparison between Dubreuil’s portraits and those of another celebrated Pictorialist, Clarence White. As conceived by Dubreuil, however, this photograph transcends the genre and is remarkably layered.  Many of Dubreuil’s photographs are best understood in the context of their titles and Le Volant is no exception. ‘Volant’ alludes both to the hovering shuttlecock and to the frill of the sitter’s dress, whose very form echoes the toy’s conical shape. The outline of the shuttlecock is further echoed in the silhouette of the side-swept curtain and the feathery fronds of the potted palm. In Dubreuil’s fantastical tableau, the shuttlecock volleys over a ‘net’ of curtains cleverly bisecting the frame. 

The photograph offered here is believed to be the only surviving print of this image. It comes originally from the collection of Pawel Barchan, who operated a photography agency in Paris prior to World War II. Barchan owned several photographs by Dubreuil, including Place de l’Opera, Der Prahler, and Le Métronome, the last now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.