Photographs by Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Photographs by Jacques-Henri Lartigue

‘Our parents need not have worried, there were no accidents’

Two quirky and rare early photographs by celebrated French amateur photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1894–1986) are set to be offered at Chiswick Auctions in our upcoming 19th and 20th Century Photographs sale on 31 May.

Mounted together and titled Descent of the Rabbit and The Rabbit Has Arrived, the silver gelatin prints are estimated at £10,000–£15,000. Capturing an amusing episode from September 1911, they document Lartigue and his older brother Zissou’s ingenious (and questionable) experiment involving the family’s pets and a makeshift rollercoaster.

Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1894-1986), THE RABBIT HAS ARRIVED / DESCENT OF THE RABBIT, September 1911. 

Estimate £10,000 - £15,000

 

Constructed from a second-floor window, the loop-the-loop track was built to carry their unsuspecting chickens and rabbits in a tailor-made car. The first image shows the wooden track plunging from the window, while the second captures one of the rabbits emerging unscathed at ground level.

Lartigue recorded the event in his diary:
"Thanks to the inventive genius of my brother, our hens and rabbits were lucky enough to find themselves guinea pigs, and thus able to experience many strong acrobatic emotions which were denied to us!...Our parents need not have worried, there were no accidents in spite of the fact that our little roller coaster took off from the second floor window. After their free rides our small friends tottered away as if drunk - on excitement no doubt."

This joyful playfulness and sense of curiosity came to define Lartigue’s approach to photography. Introduced to the camera by his father at the age of seven, he began documenting his privileged Belle Époque upbringing, producing images of racing cars, promenading Parisian ladies and airborne contraptions,  all rendered with charm and spontaneity.

Lartigue’s photography remained largely unknown to the public until the 1960s, when a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York brought him international acclaim. Between 1979 and 1986, Lartigue donated his entire archive to the French State, where it is now preserved by the Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine (MAP) at Charenton-le-Pont.

The two prints offered here were retained for the family by Lartigue and his third wife, Florette (née Ormea), who he married in Paris in 1945. They remained in Florette’s personal collection until her death, making them an especially intimate record of Lartigue’s work.

These early images speak not only to the inventive mischief of childhood, but also to the enduring appeal of Lartigue’s ability to capture joy, movement and lightness with a lens.

If you are interested in receiving a complimentary valuation of your vintage or modern photographs?

Please get in touch with our Fine Photographs Department 
photographica@chiswickauctions.co.uk
or submit an online valuation today.