Portrait of Ernestine Nadar, the artist's wife, wearing fur stole (c. 1880–83): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Ernestine Nadar, the artist's wife, wearing fur stole (c. 1880–83) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Nadar (French, 1820–1910).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This striking and unusual uncut sheet of carte-de-visite exposures was taken by one of France’s most successful early portraitist photographers, Nadar. His wife Ernestine frequently modeled for him, including when he tried out new equipment or processes such as these gelatin silver prints. These portraits seem to be an intimate, direct exchange between sitter and camera, wife and husband.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Ernestine Nadar, the artist's wife, wearing fur stole
• Date: c. 1880–83
• Creator attribution: Nadar (French, 1820–1910)
• Culture: France
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: uncut sheet of three matte gelatin silver carte-de-visites
• Dimensions: Overall: 10.8 x 21.9 cm (4 1/4 x 8 5/8 in.)
• Collection: PH - French 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2021.67

A detail from the museum

Nadar and his wife Ernestine were married for 54 years.

Collection credit

Gift of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.