Backstage at Jacques de Lalaing’s studio
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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"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.
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.
The exhibition is now over.
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