Portrait Photograph - Signed by Photographer

Large format original exhibition albumen portrait photograph of the singer, signed in ink by the famous French photographer and embossed with his logo on the mount.  Photograph in very fine condition, some light wear to edges of mount, else fine.  Oval albumen photograph measures 6.3 x 7 inches (16 x 18 cm.), the full mount 10.6 x 15.75 inches (27 x 40 cm.).

Pauline Viardot, one of the most important singers of the 19th century, was the dedicatee of Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Saint-Saens wrote that it was her voice he had in mind when composing the role of Dalila.  Viardot created Meyerbeer's "Le Prophete" (Fides), Orphee in the Berlioz version of Gluck's "Orphee et Euridice," Gounod's "Sapho," and Massenet's "Marie Magdalene" among others.  She starred in Gluck's Alceste at the Paris Opera in 1861 and 1865, which Berlioz altered for the production.

Born in Aups in 1832, Petit was a prolific photographer of portraits as well as other subjects whose work was widely acclaimed during his lifetime. He regularly exhibited in France throughout the 1850s, '60s and '70s, and was dedicated to experimentation with photographic processes and to publishing his findings. Petit's straightforward approach to depicting his sitters attracted the attention of numerous patrons, including Napoleon III. He was the official photographer of the International Exposition of 1867 and in the early 1870s he was commissioned to photograph various stages of the construction of the Statue of Liberty in New York. (18539)

---

Unsigned Photo/Portrait

Opera

Signed Document/Item

Signed Photograph

Art & Design

$1,000.00

• Add to Cart