Laure Albin Guillot (1879-1962) was simply too versatile, too talented and too far outside the modern mainstream not to be neglected in her home country. Her work went against the Cartesian norms of the French mind, which has to label and classify artists in clearly marked boxes before they can receive any recognition.

This “Grand Dame of French photography,” in the words of Daniel Masclet, left her mark not only in portraits, nudes and landscapes, but also in commercial photography, scientific photography (with her “decorative micrographs”) and publishing, producing several artists’ books much sought by today’s collectors. Guillot also played an important role in the professional world of photography as the archive director at the Beaux-Arts (a forerunner of today’s Ministry of Culture), and as the first curator of the Cinémathèque Nationale. In an interview with Patrick-Gilles Persin, available in the catalog co-published with Editions De Lamartinière, Guillot does not explain why she chose to retire in 1956 to the Maison nationale des artistes in Nogent-sur-Marne. “She almost never spoke of the financial situation at Nogent, which I knew to be critical (according to my grandparents).”

Despite her professional and institutional reputation, Guillot spent her final years in isolation, her work set aside and even held in contempt by the French art world, which was at the time dominated by champions of so-called humanist and documentary photography.

Bernard Perrine

Read the full article on the French version of Le Journal.

Exhibition
Laure Albin Guillot
"L'enjeu classique"
Until May 12th, 2013
Jeu de Paume
1, Place de la Concorde
75008 Paris
+33 (0)1 47 03 12 50
Tuesday : 11am - 9pm
Wednesday - Sunday 11am - 7pm

Book
Laure Albin Guillot
Preface by Marta Gili
Texts by: Delphine Desveaux, Michaël Houlette, Catherine Gonnard
Interview with Patrick-Gilles Persin
Coédition Éditions de La Martinière / Jeu de Paume
French / English
192 pages, 195x240mm