Eve with Snake, by Henri Manuel

Talk about a time machine.... The feel of the period derived from a card like this one is sensational. There is something about a fine photograph in natural sepia tones that is just so...wonderful. Images of Eve being tempted by the snake abound, being a favorite of artists of all ages, but rarely has Eve managed to look quite so humorously nonchalant about the encounter as she does in this image by Henri Manuel.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE Fabulous French Faux Nude with Snake, circa 1900, by Henri Manuel

This postcard, published about 1900, features a superbly naive image of an unidentified model  “en collant” (in a body stocking) with a really great snake! One has to wonder, when viewing an image of this kind, whether the goal was humor, titillation, gender politics, a biblical reference of any kind, or a mix of oh, so many things, but the quality of the image is undeniable. Her facial expression seems to us to say,  “Et alors! You think I can't handle this?”

This card was published by SIP (the Societe Industrielle de Photographie), one of the most prolific French postcard publishers at that time. The image was photographed by Henri Manuel, and given the age of the card (its production date, by its undivided back, is likely to have been before 1904), the photo would have been taken not long after Monsieur Manuel and his brother, Gaston (about whom we can find no information whatsoever), opened their first portrait studio in Paris, in 1900.

Henri Manuel's name appears on many of the cards we bring into our shop, and though most of the subjects we deal in are very lighthearted, Manuel himself was a serious photographer, and an astute business man. He became well known not only for his portraits of theatrical personalities, risque nudes, and romantic fantaisies, but more, for his portraits of famous politicians, art, architecture, and in 1910, “Manuel’s studio began providing a commercial service to news agencies for photographs known as ‘L’Agence universelle de reportage Henri Manuel.’” His studio grew to be the largest in Paris, a recognized center for the development of the photographic arts (please forgive the pun ☺), and for the three decades between 1914 and 1944, Henri Manuel held the post of official photographer for the French government. Because we know his studio operations were shut down during WWII, we wonder if during the last years he held that government post (when France was under German occupation), he worked for  “Free France,” but we haven't yet found a lot of history on that period. Henri Manuel passed away in 1947.

Just to give you an idea of the broad scope of the man's work, you can examine a few of the approximately 2500 photographs Manuel's studio produced of French prisons and juvenile facilities between the years 1929 and 1931, for the French Department of Justice. Pretty grim stuff, but though Red Poulaine is very much about the frolicsome fun, we feel it's important to give you background on our photographers and artistes when possible, and well...we just love the stories.

Featured Items: Beautiful Art Nouveau Images by Photographer Arjalew

It's pretty amazing when our featured items sell so fast that we can't even get our blog post up, but that's what happened to two out of this beautiful collection of images. Fear not, you will still have the opportunity to view all four of these wonderful Art Nouveau images by the Belle Époque photographer, Arjalew (pronounced ari-ya-lev). Monsieur Arjalew was a Parisian photographer who operated a studio out of 17 Boulevard Poissoniere in Paris. His surname suggests a Polish heritage to us, but we are not experts and have been unable to find confirmation; one source, a French dealer in postcards, has listed Arjalew's work as Judaica, but we cannot confirm this, either. What we do know is that Arjalew created some really stunning Art Nouveau images, often using illustrated backgrounds with that quintessential Art Nouveau floral imagery  So, we now present to you, for your viewing pleasure, four of his lovely images, previously published as postcards.

The first two of these images are companion pieces, depicting as they do the same lovely young woman with her impish smile. She wears flowing draperies and flowers to either side of her face. In one she stands and in the other she sits, but in both the background is a wonderful design of leaves and flowers, very much like the designs found in the artwork of Alphonse Mucha. These images remind us, also, of the artwork of John R. Neill, whose portraits of Ozma and the other young ladies who inhabited Oz so often depicted them in flowing gowns and with flowers framing their faces.

AVAILABLE FOR SALE Beautiful Art Nouveau Portrait of Young Woman by Arjalew, circa 1905

AVAILABLE FOR SALE Beautiful Art Nouveau Portrait by Arjalew, circa 1905

The following image, with its annotation "Bonne Fête," may have been intended as a card to be given on a birthday, or in celebration of the feast day of one's patron saint. Once more, we see that an enchanting Art Nouveau background has been used to frame the model whose attention seems to be coquettishly focused on the flowers she holds in her hands, rather than on the photographer and the camera he points at her.

SOLD Lovely Art Nouveau Image by Arjalew, circa 1905

Our final image is of a young woman who is identified by the annotation in the top right corner as Astarte, the Greek name for a goddess whose roles encompassed fertility and sexuality and who was once "known as the deified evening star." Astarte's robes follow the Classical pattern so favored by Arjalew and other photographers of La Belle Époque, but are daringly sheer, in keeping with her roles involving sex and procreation. Unlike the other cards in this set, the background is plain, designed to disappear, so that only the model and the heavy stone throne upon which she reclines are visible. Yet this image, in keeping with the others, makes liberal use of flowers as a design element crucial to the depiction of youth and beauty, sexuality, and fertility.

SOLD Stunning Art Nouveau Astarte by Arjalew, circa 1905

Red Poulaine is Offering 25% Off for Cyber Monday

Red Poulaine is currently offering a Cyber Monday discount of 25%. This is the biggest discount we've ever offered and will be available only until midnight PST, Tuesday, November 27, 2012. To receive this discount, just enter coupon code CYBER2012 during the checkout process.