Jacques Henri Lartigue facts for kids

Jacques Henri Lartigue (born June 13, 1894 – died September 12, 1986) was a famous French photographer and painter. He was well-known for his exciting photos of car races, airplanes, and stylish Parisian fashion models.

A Young Photographer's Start

Jacques Henri Lartigue was born in Courbevoie, a town near Paris, France. His family was wealthy, and he started taking pictures when he was just seven years old. He loved to photograph his friends and family having fun.

He captured moments of them running, jumping, and racing homemade cars. He also took pictures of them building kites, gliders, and even early airplanes. Once, he even photographed them climbing the Eiffel Tower! Lartigue was one of the first artists to use the simple Kodak Brownie camera to take quick "snapshots."

He also photographed exciting sports events, like the Coupe Gordon Bennett and the French Grand Prix. He captured early flights of brave aviation pioneers such as Louis Blériot and Roland Garros. He even photographed famous tennis players like Suzanne Lenglen at the French Open.

Many of his first famous photos were taken in a special way called stereoscopy. This made the pictures look 3D when viewed with a special device. He used many different types of cameras and materials, including glass plates and early color photos called autochromes. He even developed his own photos from a young age.

Discovery and Fame

For a long time, Lartigue mostly focused on painting, which was how he earned money. He sold some photos to sports magazines, but his photography wasn't widely known. However, he kept taking pictures and writing journals about them throughout his life.

When he was 69 years old, his amazing childhood photos were "discovered" by Charles Rado from the Rapho photo agency. Rado showed Lartigue's work to John Szarkowski, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. This led to a special exhibition of Lartigue's work at MoMA in 1963. The famous Life magazine also published his photos that year.

This exhibition made Lartigue famous around the world. He started getting chances to work with fashion magazines and became well-known in many countries. In 1974, the new French President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, asked Lartigue to take his official portrait. Lartigue took a simple, well-lit photo using the French flag as a background. The next year, he had his first big exhibition in France, which led to more work with fashion and decoration magazines.

More Than Just a Photographer

Even though he is best known for his photography, Lartigue was also a talented painter. His paintings were often shown in art exhibitions in Paris and southern France starting in 1922. He even took part in the painting event at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

Lartigue was friends with many famous writers and artists, including the painter Pablo Picasso. He also worked on movie sets with famous directors. Many of these famous people became subjects in his photographs. Lartigue photographed almost everyone he met. His most frequent subjects were his three wives and his girlfriend from the 1930s, Renée Perle.

His first book, Diary of a Century, was published with the help of photographer Richard Avedon. Lartigue continued taking photos for the last thirty years of his life and finally became very successful.

Where to See His Work

Lartigue's photographs are kept in the permanent collections of many museums around the world. Some of these include the Harvard Art Museums, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the George Eastman Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Awards and Recognition

• 1984: He received the Cultural Award from the German Society for Photography (DGPh).

His Lasting Impact

In 1954, Lartigue helped create an organization called Gens d'images. This group celebrates people who work with still or moving images. It also gives out two important photography awards, the Niépce and Nadar Prizes.

Lartigue's son, Dani, was a painter and an expert on butterflies. Dani helped create La Maison des Papillons, a small museum in St. Tropez. It has paintings and souvenirs from his father, along with a large collection of beautifully displayed butterflies.

The American movie director Wes Anderson is a big fan of Lartigue's work. Anderson has even used Lartigue's photos as inspiration for scenes in his movies, like Rushmore. A character in Anderson's movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was even based on Lartigue's appearance. Interestingly, "Zissou" was also Lartigue's nickname for his brother, Maurice.

A station on the T2 tram line in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, is named after Lartigue. There is also a street nearby named after him.

See also

In Spanish: Jacques Henri Lartigue para niños