EN
Eugène Atget, Roses du Nil, before 1910, Albumen Silver Print (detail)
Eugène Atget, Roses du Nil, before 1910, Albumen Silver Print (detail)

Eugène Atget (1857 - 1927) is considered to be one of the most important pioneers in the history of photography. His work is distinctive; photographing park scenes, streets, rows of houses, window displays- he captured architectural details of the city of Paris and its surroundings. From the last decade of the 19th century until his death in 1927, he produced an inexhaustible oeuvre comprising more than 10,000 pictures. Particularly in his photographs of old Paris, Atget’s work ties in with the city’s great traditional photography, established in the 1850s. However, Atget went beyond mere documentation. His photographs are unique in their display of particular details and in the way they capture atmospheric effects.

Taken at eye level, the scenes, almost always deserted, often appear like stage sets. In addition to this, Atget’s images are characterised by a peculiar/unique atmosphere created by light and reflections which - initially pointed out as a fault - finally led to a widespread recognition of his work. He especially caught the attention of Surrealist photographers such as Berenice Abbot and Man Ray. Atget made a living by selling his photographs for painters to use as source material and to public institutions. It was Berenice Abbott who, after purchasing a large part of his photographic estate, published his work and brought it to international attention. In 1968, she sold the photographs to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
2021
Eugène Atget. Voir Paris

Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson, Paris, France

2013
Eugène Atget. Picturing Paris

The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, USA

2012
Eugène Atget. Old Paris

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

2012
Eugène Atget. Paris

Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France

2011-12
Eugène Atget. Documents pour artistes

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

2010-11
Eugène Atget. El Viejo París

Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain

2008
Eugene Atget – Paris um 1900. Retrospektive

Winterthur, Fotomuseum, Switzerland

2007-08
Atget – Retrospektive

Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany

2007
Atget, une rétrospective

Bibliothèque National de France, Paris, France

2007
Eugène Atget

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

2006-07
Eugène Atget. Das Paris der Jahrhundertwende

Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany

2005-06
Eugène Atget. Photographies de Paris et ses alentours

Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France

Group exhibitions
2014
RealSurreal. Meisterwerke der Avantgarde-Fotografie. Das Neue Sehen 1920 - 1950. Sammlung Siegert

Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany

2013-14
Paris as Muse. Photography 1840s – 1930s

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

2006
Photographic Discoveries – Recent Aquisitions

The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA

2006
Beyond Real

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA

2005-06
New Histories 10 – Paris: Eugène Atget and Christopher Rauschenberg

International Center of Photography, New York, USA

2005
Pas Moi Sans Eux – Colección Pierre Borhan

Fundació Foto Colectiania, Barcelona, Spain

2005
Begierde im Blick – Surrealistische Photographie

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

2005
Drawn with Light – Pioneering French Photography

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, USA

2004-05
Der Körper der Photographie – Sammlung Herzog

Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany

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