Hanging

Backstage at Jacques de Lalaing’s studio

From September 28th, 2022 to March 07th, 2023 -

Musée d'Orsay

Cabinet de photographies
Salle 8c, niveau 0

positif, Jacques (comte) De Lalaing, Modèle masculin torse nu assis, main gauche sur le front [Autoportrait ?], vers 1890 — Jacques (comte) De Lalaing
*Modèle masculin torse nu assis, main gauche sur le front [Autoportrait ?]*, vers 1890
Musée d'Orsay
Patrice Schmidt © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
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The Belgian painter and sculptor Jacques de Lalaing built an abundant body of work governed by academic codes. He made intensive – and confidential – use of photography, and to ensure he had a record of his works, he used the services of renowned Brussels photographers. To build up a repertory of images as a later source of inspiration, he collected “Academies”, produced for artists by Parisian photographers and publishers.

"We try to find a pose and the right lighting. I take a few souvenirs", Jacques de Lalaing, Journal n° 4, 7 April 1899.

Lalaing was also the author of thousands of photos taken in his vast Brussels studio. Here, he staged his subjects facing the camera: celebrities whose portrait he had been commissioned to paint, professional models, children and animals selected to inspire a future composition. Used as a simple work tool, these photos served as preparatory sketches before adjusting the décor, producing a charcoal or plaster study, and finally creating the painting or sculpture.

, De Lalaing, Jacques (comte) — Jacques (comte) De Lalaing
*Modèle masculin torse nu assis, main gauche sur le front [Autoportrait ?]*, vers 1890
Musée d'Orsay
Patrice Schmidt © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
See the notice of the artwork

These prints document the place where artistic creation took place: layouts, partially finished busts, accessories used to help the creative process. Through some surprising motifs (shabby self-portrait, naked bodies, an animal that has been killed), they also reveal hidden impulses at work.