Rare photographic portrait of Gustave Flaubert by Nadar.

[FLAUBERT] Paul NADAR

Later print depicting Flaubert in bust
[Paris, c. 1910], cabinet format, mounted on heavy card with the photographer's credit.
Perfect condition except for a very slight defect on the right side of the portrait.
Pen annotation on the back "Flaubert", in an unknown hand.
Wet stamp on the back "E. Hautecœur – 35 avenue de l'Opéra – Paris".

A very rare and legendary portrait of the writer by Nadar, taken during the years he was writing Sentimental Education

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The iconography of Flaubert is quite limited. Only four photographic portraits of the writer are known:
- Two Italian-style shots by Étienne Carjat, taken during two different sittings
- A profile portrait by Giacomo Borelli, probably taken during the 1867 Universal Exhibition, which Flaubert visited
- A three-quarter bust portrait by Félix Nadar (the one shown here)

Paul Nadar, son of Félix Nadar (1820-1910), had begun to collaborate with his father as early as 1886. This later print therefore reproduces the one taken by Félix between 1865 and 1869.

Photographic portraits of Flaubert are exceptionally rare

When Flaubert died on May 8, 1880, his face was unknown. This was an exception in a century where the image of the artist had proliferated through engraving and photography. The absence of an image stemmed from the author's express wish: he consistently refused to reveal his likeness to the public.

Iconography:
Flaubert Album , ed. Yvan Leclerc, Pléiade, p. 184, no. 147