Catégorie : Non classé (Page 1 of 2)

Until now, only a handful of clues supported the theory of Rimbaud’s trip to Vienna. The picture changes with the discovery of a detailed German newspaper article, based on the police report of his arrest in Vienna on 26 February 1876.
No images? Click here transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-e-eiydutk-duhrljnjy-p/
BIENNALE DI SENIGALLIA
• Caspar David Friedrich – Rocky Ravine in the Elbe Sandstein
“ARTHUR RIMBAUD AND PHOTOGRAPHY”
V. ARTHUR RIMBAUD’S PHOTOGRAPHIC PRESENCE IN VIENNA
The possibility of a stay in Vienna by Arthur Rimbaud was until now principally based on indirect testimony rather than documentary certainty. The main evidence comes from Ernest Delahaye, who saw Rimbaud shortly before his departure and just after his brief return at the beginning of May 1876, just before leaving for Java.
Additional indications include two undated drawings by Delahaye that appear to refer to this episode, two satirical poems illustrated by Paul Verlaine—one from early March, the other dated March 24, 1876—a letter from Germain Nouveau dated April 17, 1876, and the account of Isabelle Rimbaud, who saw her brother return home in early May 1876; some precise details were later reported by Marguerite-Yerta Méléra. And a map of Vienna Rimbaud brought back from his trip which Isabelle kept.
• Ernest Delahaye. Encounter (Rimbaud in Charleville between two attempts to leave), circa February 76, drawing (detail), Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques Doucet
• Paul Verlaine. “Les Voyages forment la jeunesse, M… à la Daromphe ! J’fousl’ camp à Wien !” (Rimbaud leaves for Vienna), March 76, drawing, Bibliothèque Nationale
• Paul Verlaine. “Dargnières Nouvelles” (Rimbaud robbed in Vienna), 24 March 76
• Ernest Delahaye. Le Nouveau Juif Errant (Rimbaud return to Charleville after his expulsion from Vienna), circa May 76, drawing, Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques Doucet
While these elements converged to support the theory of a trip to Vienna, the reconstruction can now include an important primary source: a detailed newspaper article in German, drawn from the police report of Rimbaud’s arrest in Vienna on 26 February 1876.
The recent finding by archivists at the Vienna Archives of an article published on February 29, 1876, in the Fremden-Blatt, a supplement to the Morgen-Blatt, provides valuable and until now unknown information regarding Arthur Rimbaud’s stay in Vienna.
• Fremden-Blatt 29. Februar 1876, National Library of Austria
This German-language newspaper, intended to inform the large community of foreigners and visitors in the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, represents a first-hand source for understanding the circumstances of the poet’s Viennese episode. Below is a transliteration and literal translation of the article’s text:
«(Abenteuer eines Franzosen.) Der Bewölbewächter Fuchs bemerkte Samstag nachts in der Maximilianstraße einen jungen, elegant gekleideten Mann, der anscheinend den besseren Ständen angehörte, wie er mit einem mehrläusigen Revolver in der Hand daherwankte. Er hielt ihn deshalb an und übergab ihn einem Sicherheitswachmann, der ihn aufs Polizeikommissariat in der Stadt eskortierte. Der Fremde, der nur Französisch sprach, war im Besitze einer Schachtel mit Revolverpatronen. Er gab an, Arthur Rimbaud zu heißen, verweigerte aber jede weitere Auskunft betreffs seines Nationalen.
Die mittler-weile gepflogenen Erhebungen stellten fest, dass der Angehaltene ein Sprachlehrer, 22 Jahre alt, aus Charleville geboren ist und über Straßburg nach Wien gereist sei, um von hier in die Türkei zu gehen. Rimbaud bemerkte, dass es ihm nichts um die Ausführung eines Selbstmordes zu tun gewesen, er // sei dadurch in arge Verlegenheit geraten, dass ihm Samstag Nachts in einem öffentlichen Unterhaltungsorte seine Ersparnisse in der Höhe von 500 Francs gestohlen wurden. Den Revolver führte er nur zu seinem persönlichen Schutze bei sich.»
• Abenteuer eines Franzosen. Fremden-Blatt. 29 Februar 1876, National Library of Austria
« (Adventure of a Frenchman.) On Saturday night, night-watchman Fuchs observed, on Maximilianstraße, a young man who appeared to belong to the better classes, elegantly dressed, staggering along with a multi-chambered revolver in his hand. He stopped him and handed him over to a security guard, who escorted him to the city police station. The stranger, who spoke only French, was found to be in possession of a box of revolver cartridges. He stated his name was Arthur Rimbaud, but refused to give any further information regarding his nationality.
Investigations conducted in the meantime established that the detained individual is a language teacher, 22 years old, born in Charleville, who had traveled via Strasbourg to Vienna, intending to continue on to Turkey. Rimbaud remarked that he had no intention of committing suicide; he explained he was thrown into great distress when, on Saturday night in a public place of entertainment, his savings, amounting to 500 francs, had been stolen. He carried the revolver solely for his personal protection. »
• « 500 Francs ». Fremden-Blatt. 29 Februar 1876, last part of the article
Here is a point-by-point commentary on the article:
Samstag nachts, Saturday night: The report specifies “Saturday night,” which here is Saturday, February 26, 1876. This allows us to determine the exact date of Rimbaud’s arrival in Vienna. This detail clarifies longstanding confusion about the timing of his departure for Vienna.
Der Bewölbewächter FUCHS, the vault/watchman FUCHS, municipal night watchman: Night watchmen in Vienna were municipal employees responsible for maintaining public order at night. When petroleum-based lighting replaced oil lamps (starting in 1846), these officers continued their patrols until electric lighting arrived in 1926.
• Precise marks on Rimbaud’s map of Vienna
Maximilianstraße: This is a street in central Vienna, beginning at Kastnerstraße in front of the Vienna Opera. The incident thus occurred in a central, prominent area. It correspond to a mark on the map of Vienna Rimbaud brought back from his trip.
einen jungen, elegant gekleideten Mann, a young, elegantly dressed man: The police report emphasizes the subject’s age and appearance. In Viennese society at the time (and in police reports), noting a person’s elegance is significant—even at night, the impression of social status was important.
der anscheinend den besseren Ständen angehörte, who appeared to belong to the higher classes: This phrase confirms that Rimbaud was perceived as part of the upper, or at least respectable, social strata. This observation likely influenced how he was handled by authorities.
daherwankte, was staggering along: The watchman’s neutral description leaves the precise cause open. “Staggering” could refer to drunkenness, despair, disorientation due to physical assault, or simply fatigue. The report does not specify.
• « Revolver with multiple chambers », comparable example sold at Drouot, 2024
einem mehrläusigen Revolver in der Hand, holding a revolver with multiple chambers: Rimbaud was carrying a revolver in his hand, a detail bound to attract comment. Historically, “Rimbaud” and “revolver” are linked, notably to the incident with Paul Verlaine (Brussels, July 10, 1873, with a Lefaucheux revolver). In this case, the revolver appears to have been unconnected to any threat. Raises question about theft report’s – he claims to have been robbed of all his savings (500 francs) in an entertainment venue, yet he still retained both his revolver and a box of cartridges.
der ihn aufs Polizeikommissariat in der Stadt eskortierte, escorted him to the city police station: In 1876, the Vienna police headquarters was located at Schottenring 11, as found in the 1876 Niederösterreichischer Amts-Kalender (11th edition). This would have been the destination for such cases.
Der Fremde, der nur Französisch sprach, the stranger who spoke only French:Although Rimbaud had a reputation as a polyglot, he initially presented himself as French-speaking only. This was likely a protective reflex; the record suggests he may have eventually switched to German when further pressed.
einer Schachtel mit Revolverpatronen, a box of revolver cartridges: He was in possession of a box, or small case, of revolver cartridges. Given that Rimbaud claimed he had been robbed, it is notable that neither his revolver nor his ammunition were taken.
Er gab an, Arthur Rimbaud zu heißen, he stated his name was Arthur Rimbaud:He identified himself as Arthur Rimbaud. The authorities appear to have been skeptical, as he would not answer further questions.
verweigerte aber jede weitere Auskunft betreffs seines Nationalen, refused to provide further information about his status or nationality: In nineteenth-century German, “seines Nationalen” (his national status) can be broader than mere nationality. It can include social and professional status, administrative situation, means of support, and life plans.
• Josef Engelhart, A Pülcher, Viennese street figure, 1888, albumen print
The article specifies that further inquiries were undertaken—most likely on Sunday, February 27, or Monday, February 28, since the article was prepared for print on Monday evening, February 28, 1876.
dass der Angehaltene, the person apprehended: This refers to Rimbaud’s real arrest and detention. He was not merely questioned or released on the street.
ein Sprachlehrer, a language teacher: Rimbaud described himself as a language teacher. This matches what we know from his earlier stay in Germany, when he placed classified ads for language lessons.
22 Jahre alt, aus Charleville geboren, 22 years old, born in Charleville:
He succeeded in proving his identity. Either he retrieved his passport after recovering his composure, or the Austrian police consulted with German border police at the point where Rimbaud entered the Reich on Saturday. In French administrative usage, Rimbaud was 21, but in other European countries someone is in their “22nd year” once 21 has been completed.
über Straßburg nach Wien, traveled via Strasbourg to Vienna: He traveled on the train line from Strasbourg to Vienna—the route that would eventually become part of the Orient Express. Likely he crossed the border at Avricourt. Since 1875, French trains (from the Compagnie de l’Est) terminated at Deutsch-Avricourt, with signage only in German. Passengers underwent police and customs checks, then boarded German trains running right-hand, with German signals, to Sarrebourg and Strasbourg.
• Map of Europe, 1873, four large empires clearly dominated the continent
um von hier in die Türkei zu gehen, intending to travel on to Turkey: This detail sheds light on a less-documented episode of Rimbaud’s life and clarifies a travel project toward Turkey that was not previously well-established. Earlier biographers (following Verlaine) referenced Russia, and Delahaye mentioned Varna on the Black Sea. It’s worth noting that in 1876, “Turkey” meant the Ottoman Empire, stretching across southeastern Europe into parts of Serbia and Romania.
dass es ihm nichts um die Ausführung eines Selbstmordes zu tun gewesen, that he had no intention of suicide: Rimbaud emphasized he was not contemplating suicide, phrased in German bureaucratic language as having “no intention to execute the act of suicide.” Biographers often note the despair implied by this statement. In fact, Rimbaud’s journey “East” ended here. He stayed in Vienna for months, taking odd jobs and, reportedly, searching for those who robbed him. At the end of April or early May, he was escorted to the border and returned home to Charleville.
er sei dadurch in arge Verlegenheit geraten, he found himself in great embarrassment/distress: The phrase indicates that his life plans had collapsed due to the theft; he found himself in serious distress. The choice of words underscores the depth of his predicament.
• Viennese Wine Bar, ca. 1876, Newspaper illustration
in einem öffentlichen Unterhaltungsorte, in a public place of entertainment:
This administrative phrase deserves special attention. In the context of Austrian police and journalism of the period, “public place of entertainment” could generally refers to cafés, taverns, theaters, or other venues open to the public and subject to regulation. However, it can also serve as a neutral formulation—a journalistic way of avoiding naming a specific establishment, particularly if it was socially prominent or politically sensitive.
• Kärntnerstraße 51, Palais Todesco, ca 1870, albumen print
In this case, further research suggests that the location may correspond to the first restaurant opened by Edmund Sacher—a notable venue in the Todesco Palais [https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Todescopalais] on the corner of Maximilianstraße, frequented by the Emperor’s own clientele.
The use of vague language in the police report and newspaper article may be a deliberate choice, reflecting either caution or discretion when reporting incidents linked to such a high-profile establishment. After all, who could have calculated the impact of a scandal on Vienna’s reputation—the capital’s premier restaurant, and a favored haunt of the elite, implicated in an episode where a young foreign visitor is seduced, made drunk, and robbed in an elegant private salon on a Saturday night?
This detail does not align with the accounts provided by Delahaye, Verlaine, or the Rimbaud family, all of whom attributed the theft to a Fiaker—an untrustworthy cab driver—likely echoing the version young Rimbaud himself related in a lost letter to Delahaye or on his return home.
• Unidentified Cab Driver, 1880s, albumen print — illustrating a version now unlikely
This discrepancy becomes a central question in the inquiry, especially given the precise mark on the map of Vienna that Rimbaud brought back—unambiguously circling the Todesco Palais.
gestohlen wurden, were stolen: This confirms a theft and the involvement of thieves. It may explain why Rimbaud remained in Vienna for more than two months—possibly to find work as a language teacher or to track down the thieves. Only as his resources ran out did he resort to begging and selling his clothes.
seine Ersparnisse in der Höhe von 500 Francs, his savings amounting to 500 francs: Correspondence between Rimbaud and his mother allows us to reconstruct the larger timeline of their financial relations. Throughout his adult life, Arthur tried to repay what his upbringing and his mother’s assistance had cost.
Den Revolver führte er nur zu seinem persönlichen Schutze bei sich, he carried the revolver solely for personal protection: The presence of the revolver remains, for now, a mystery. Since the newspaper article is indisputable, it seems legitimate to consider several hypotheses. Did Rimbaud travel to Vienna already armed, or was he in the process of acquiring the revolver there? Is it not plausible that during one of his encounters—perhaps as local acquaintances warned him about the dangers of his planned journey—someone suggested or facilitated the purchase of a revolver? Perhaps it was during the process of obtaining the weapon that he was lured, set up, and then robbed, possibly right inside the restaurant. The scenario where the revolver comes into play within the Sacher establishment cannot be ruled out.
In the Biennale de la Photographie exhibition, a large schematic map summarizes the key locations involved in the investigation of Rimbaud’s stay in Vienna. It serves to test the compatibility of older sources with the newly discovered article from the Fremden-Blatt.
• Viennese tintype portraits from the 1880s
Some of the historical documents on display in the “Rimbaud and Photography” section at the Biennale originate from Vienna’s annual vintage photo fair—a gathering point for collectors, dealers, curators, and enthusiasts from across Europe.
• Viennese Carte de visite portraits from the 1870s and 1880s
A number of Viennese dealers have readily joined in the ongoing research surrounding the identification of the small carte-de-visite portrait from the Hofbauer studio, generously sharing advice and supplementary documentation.
You can visit photofairwien.com, or contact by mail the Vienna’s annual vintage photo fair at [info@photofairwien.com]
Vienna’s annual vintage photo fair [https://photofairwien.com]
The next article will focus on the question of whether Rimbaud can be identified as the young man holding a book upside-down in a carte de visite from a Vienna studio.
The article is scheduled for publication on Wednesday, July 30.
L’antica fotografia è la più bella delle collezioni …
Senigallia, città della fotografia, ospita nuovi spazi dedicato alla ricerca e promozione della fotografia.
Atelier 41 si trova 41 via fratelli Bandiera.
Senigallia diventerà la Città delle collezioni.
Any question : [fotografia@atelier41.org]
Share transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-fb-eiydutk-duhrljnjy-x/ Tweet transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-tw-eiydutk-duhrljnjy-m/ Share [https://transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-li-eiydutk-duhrljnjy-yd/] Forward consigneditdisergeplantureux.forwardtomyfriend.com/d-duhrljnjy-3D431DD6-eiydutk-l-c
ATELIER 41
Via Fratelli Bandiera 41
60019 Senigallia
Italy
Preferences consigneditdisergeplantureux.updatemyprofile.com/d-eiydutk-3D431DD6-duhrljnjy-q | Unsubscribe transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-u-eiydutk-duhrljnjy-a/

Thanks to the work of several generations of enthusiasts, and to Hugues Fontaine’s careful analysis of the available sources in his recent book, we may conclude that Rimbaud’s photographic adventure in Harar lasted only a single month: May 1883.
No images? Click here transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-e-sulquk-duhrljnjy-a/
BIENNALE DI SENIGALLIA
First View. Dodun de Keroman, Former Raouf-Pacha House, Harar, 1892.
“ARTHUR RIMBAUD AND PHOTOGRAPHY”
IV. RIMBAUD’S PHOTOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE IN HARAR
(following previous article)
It all began with coffee. Bardey, Rimbaud’s employer, started questioning the stories surrounding the trade. At Aden, Bardey realized he was being misled: the “Moka” coffee he bought was not from Yemen. Instead, large shipments were arriving from the northern coast of the Horn of Africa, an area known to the Arabs as “Barr Adjam”—the “unknown land.” This coffee, labeled “Berberah” after the Somali port, was considered equal to Moka but actually came from mountain country said to be thirty or forty days by caravan inland from Berberah and Zeilah. That region, the true heartland of coffee, was called Adaré or Harar.
This was the adventure Bardey proposed, and Rimbaud accepted.
16 November 1880. Rimbaud leaves Aden by ship for Zeilah with two team members and one guide.
13 December 1880. He settles in Harar with companions, housed in the former residence of Raouf-Pacha, made available by the Bardey trading house. This would become Rimbaud’s « photographic studio ».
Second View. Lebedinskiy, Former Raouf-Pacha House with Garden wall, Harar, 1898.
During this time, discussions start around acquiring a camera. Rimbaud hopes for an apparatus, but it never arrives, and logistics remain complicated for the Bardey Agency in Harar.
January 1881. Rimbaud returns to Aden
From Aden, Rimbaud outlines his personal plan: “I am setting out to make a work for the Geographical Society, with maps and engravings, on Harar and the Galla region. I am currently ordering a camera from Lyon. I will take it to Harar and bring back images from these unknown lands—it’s a very good venture. I also need instruments for topographic work and to take latitudes. When this work is finished, and received by the Society, I may be able to secure funding for further travels. The thing is very easy.” (Letter to family, 18 January 1882)
November 1882. The equipment—expensive and complex—was finally assembled for shipping in autumn 1882: a five-month salary investment, 1,850 francs, with an additional 600 francs paid from Charleville by his mother.
March 1883. After a detour via Mauritius, the camera reached Aden and on 22 March 1883, Rimbaud leaves Aden for Harar with his long-awaited photographic kit.
Ca. 20 April 1883, Riombaud is back in Harar, once again at the Bardey house—now, definitely, the studio.
Third View. Edouard Bidault de Glatigné, Former Raouf-Pacha House, with a glimse in the garden and courtyard, Harar, 1898. (Album, BNF)
Photo sessions begin, several in the courtyard of the Bardey house and photographic prints are produced, only seven will survive.
6 May 1883: Rimbaud mails three prints to his family. Shortly after, he sends more prints (probably less than a dozen, four survive today) to Bardey, who acknowledges receipt on 24 July 1883. By late August, Rimbaud explains to Bardey that the rainy season of the three past months (June–August) has prevented any new photography.
This timeline leaves little room for doubt: all surviving photographs made by Rimbaud date from a narrow window—between the end of April and the end of May 1883. If we consider he lost no time in writing a letter to his family, the first essays are probably very close to the date of 6 May 1883.
In short: after two and half years of anticipation and setbacks, Arthur Rimbaud’s adventure as a photographer in Harar lasted just one month— let say May 1883.
2025. In the Biennale di Senigallia exhibition, all seven known photographs by Arthur Rimbaud are displayed together in a small room.
Each image appears as a gentle enlargement, printed by Andrea Franceschetti on handmade Fabriano paper. The result is an intimate setting that invites viewers to encounter these rare images up close.
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) . A Daboula Maker inside the Bardey House, Harar, May 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, Charleville-Mézières
Hugues Fontaine, as well as several photographers from Senigallia, emphasize—based on what we can judge—the quality of Arthur Rimbaud’s photographs:
“It’s the darkest area of the image where these details would have disappeared if the exposure had been set incorrectly. On the left, a staircase rises to the upper floor. Under the stairs are piled a few hides or sacks—a broken elephant tusk, discarded, perhaps? »
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) . On the Balcony-Terrace of the Bardey House, Harar, May 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, Charleville-Mézières
« The care taken with composition in these photographs is clear, both in the self-portraits and in the portraits of Sotiro and the daboula maker. In these prints, you see exactly what Rimbaud intended by choosing the placement of his camera and composing the image—reversed—on the ground glass. Printed by direct contact, the negative image is reproduced as is on paper: there’s no cropping. Each time, you can see the intention to balance the volumes of the surroundings or landscape with the figure in the photograph.
In the self-portrait with ‘arms crossed in a banana grove,’ Rimbaud positions himself on the left, composing an image meant—as we’ve said—to show the landscape as much as the person. This somewhat unorthodox arrangement must have displeased one past owner of the print, as traces of a later mounting can be seen: by recentering the composition on Rimbaud himself, part of the garden was cut away—going against the author’s intent.” (Fontaine)
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) with Sotiro. Self-portrait with arms crossed, in a banana garden, Harar, May 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, BnF
In this article, the seven known photographs by Arthur Rimbaud, taken in his Harar studio in May 1883, are presented in an unconventional order. First, to question whether they present any particular quality.
Next, we can observe the two images taken inside the Bardey house—note the same wooden railing in both. Then, we bring together the two photographs from the banana garden; as has been observed, the chemical quality of the portrait of Sotiro is much better, and the photograph itself is better preserved.
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891). Sotiro in a banana garden, Harar, May 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm. (Sotiros Konstantinescu Chryseus, alias Adji-Abdallah, back from an expedition), Charleville-Mézières
As for the last three: one is of the Harar market, but it is rather too blurry for an audience in 1883 already keen on instant images.
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891). Market Place Harar, May 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, Charleville-Mézières (detail:)
Another shows the city’s most respected religious site—a highly symbolic place. Rimbaud tried to capture it by focusing on the mausoleum of Sheikh Abadir. Sheikh Abadir Umar Al-Rida (also known as Aw Abadir or Aw Badir) is regarded as the legendary founder and patron saint of Harar, a city in eastern Ethiopia known for its rich Islamic heritage.
Historical and oral traditions relate that Abadir, a scholar from the Hijaz (present-day Saudi Arabia), was invited by the local ruler, Amir Haboba, to bring peace and unity to the then-fractious region. He is said to have arrived in Harar around 1216 AD (612H), accompanied by other religious leaders, his family, and fellow saints.
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891). Mausoleum of Sheikh Abadir, May 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, Charleville-Mézières
And finally, there is that very damaged photograph which still intrigues and troubles commentators.
How does one make a self-portrait in which one is not visible at all?
Paterne Berrichon entrusted this print in 1896 to Mr. Gabriel Lippmann of the Académie des Sciences, in the hope of producing a publishable image, but without success.
“This final, terrible photograph where you see him all in black, with bare feet and head, dressed like a convict, his feet bare on the banks of that Abyssinian river. (They showed me his portrait, half-erased, there—the blackened face, near that Ethiopian river.)” —Paul Claudel, Journal, July 2, 1912
It was not until 1922 that the photograph was finally published, appearing in La Banderole.
STILL MISSING
Bardey sent all or part of the photographic prints he received from Rimbaud to the Société de Géographie on 24 November 1883.
They were later returned—date unknown. He then sent some of them to Paterne Berrichon on 6 June 1898.
In his letters, Bardey mentions a self-portrait of Rimbaud, barefoot, and a portrait of Ahmed Ouadi Bey, Egyptian Officer in Harar—both of which are still missing.
For anyone interested in those photograph, Fontaine’s book offers guidance on how it might be found (page 103).
Honestly, no respectable paper library should be without it. Think of this as a quiet push in the right direction.
If you would like to contact Hugues to talk with him or ask questions about Harar, simply click on one of the images to visit his blog at rimbaudphotographe.eu [https://rimbaudphotographe.eu/]
or send him an email at the following address: [huguesfontaine@gmail.com]
La Fotografia è la più bella delle collezioni …
Senigallia, città della fotografia, ospitera nuovi spazi dedicato alla ricerca e promozione della fotografia.
Atelier 41 si trova 41 via fratelli Bandiera.
Senigallia diventerà la Città delle collezioni.
Any question : fotografia@atelier41.org
Share transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-fb-sulquk-duhrljnjy-f/ Tweet transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-tw-sulquk-duhrljnjy-z/ Share [https://transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-li-sulquk-duhrljnjy-g/] Forward consigneditdisergeplantureux.forwardtomyfriend.com/d-duhrljnjy-3D431DD6-sulquk-l-v
ATELIER 41
Via Fratelli Bandiera 41
60019 Senigallia
Italy
Preferences consigneditdisergeplantureux.updatemyprofile.com/d-sulquk-3D431DD6-duhrljnjy-e | Unsubscribe transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-u-sulquk-duhrljnjy-s/

The third article focuses on the place Rimbaud chose to return to three times—Harar, a city that resists easy description: ancient, dignified, and for centuries encircled and isolated. A place with no hospital, where being wounded meant real danger
No images? Click here transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-e-suhnud-duhrljnjy-v/
BIENNALE DI SENIGALLIA
“ARTHUR RIMBAUD AND PHOTOGRAPHY”
III. Following Rimbaud in Harar. « Ogaden », a film by Jean-Hugues Berrou
On the evening of the conference, following some music at the Rotonda, Jean-Hugues Berrou presented two documentary films he created about Arthur Rimbaud. The first was Praline® :
« In 2006, the city of Charleville-Mézières invited me to spend four months living in the Rimbaud family home, so I could make a documentary about Arthur Rimbaud. They had set up an artist’s residence there—a lovely studio, with a kitchenette and a mezzanine bed. I didn’t try to track down his poetry in the city, or to understand why he left so often.
Wherever he was—Charleville or elsewhere—Rimbaud is never really there, and certainly not in the bed prepared for him. » (Jean-Hugues Berrou)
In fact, Rimbaud is still receiving hundreds of letters even in the 21st century. The letterbox is in the cemetery.
« What I did observe, though, was that over the years Charleville has made peace with the poet who once cursed his hometown. Today, Rimbaud is commemorated there, cast in bronze, molded in chocolate, even turned into a terrine. In the capital of the Ardennes, there exists a Rimbaud for everyone, an everyday Rimbaud, a Rimbaud for general consumption.
That’s what drew me in: how his hometown reinvents him, how everyone constructs their own Rimbaud, their own poetic double. That’s when I began filming Praline®—with a registered trademark, like “Rimbaud Registered.” Praline, as in the chocolates with his likeness you can find at a chocolatier near Place Ducale… » (Jean-Hugues Berrou)
« Next film Ogaden focuses on the character of the caretaker of the Charleville Cemetery, this time treated through fiction. Tired of the barroom conversations where Rimbaud is mocked, he decides to travel to Ethiopia to bring the poet’s ashes there.
At the beginning of the film, the Frenchman has arrived in Harar. He is searching for a route that Arthur Rimbaud often traveled—a path rather than a road—that led coffee caravans all the way to Zeilah, on the Somaliland coast, with the help of his guide, Anouar. From Zeilah, dhows regularly shuttle across the Red Sea to Aden.
This journey echoes the final months of Rimbaud’s life. In April 1891, Rimbaud finally decided to leave his shop in Harar to seek medical help in Aden for his diseased leg. Unable to walk, he had a stretcher made and hired sixteen porters, then embarked on this twelve-day trek across the Ogaden desert. From Aden, he would continue to Europe, where his leg was amputated in Marseille. After a brief time in Roche, he returned to Marseille, where he died on November 10, 1891. » (Jean-Hugues Berrou)
The filmmaker leans on the poet’s own notes from his tough crossing of the Ogaden desert. Along the way, he gives us a glimpse of those sunburned, stubborn landscapes—places with more sand than shade, and where few of us will ever set foot.
Harar was born from the spread of the sultanates, rising on the far edge of the Red Sea as a major spiritual and commercial capital.
From the 16th century onwards, it became a fortress besieged—hemmed in by nomads and semi-nomads from the Ogaden on one side and Oromia on the other. No traveler dared venture west.
All caravans, instead, were forced to cross the desert landscapes eastward to reach the ports on the Red Sea, just as viewers find themselves making that journey alongside Berrou’s film.
Between 1529 and 1543, the Ethiopian–Adal War tore apart the region. On one side, the Christian Ethiopian Empire—eventually reinforced by four hundred Portuguese musketeers. On the other, the Muslim Adal Sultanate, fielding Harla/Harari, Somali, Afar, Arab, and Turkish forces.
The aftermath brought Ottoman ambitions and, as Mohammed Hassen argues, left both powers so weakened that the Oromo advanced—pushing east to the walls of Harar.
For the Harari, the war was catastrophic: their population shrank under unrelenting attack, remembered in chronicles as an age of blockades, shortages, and famine.
By the 17th century, Harar’s sultans clung to survival within their stone walls, trading and negotiating with surrounding Oromo chiefs. Independence survived—at a cost. Devastating raids, shifting alliances, and constant hunger shaped a city that, despite everything, endured as the capital of a shrinking emirate—a fortress adrift, world reduced to its walls, but its spirit unbroken.
Harar owed much of its survival—despite siege, blockade, and isolation—to a treasure rooted in its soil: coffee.
And coffee brought Rimbaud to Harar.
HARAR COLOR COFFEE
The forests and uplands surrounding the city harbored wild coffee plants, gradually domesticated and carefully tended by local hands. By the 16th century, Harar had emerged as a vital marketplace, drawing Oromo, Somali, and other communities. Coffee became central—not just to trade, but to daily life and ritual.
Local growers developed unique practices, often cultivating coffee on small, shaded plots interwoven with food crops, rather than in vast monocultures. The drink itself became essential to social and religious life, reinforcing the care and continuity of these cherished coffee groves across generations.
Harar’s merchants linked the highlands to Red Sea ports at Zeila and Berbera. “Harar coffee”—famed for its distinctive flavors—moved along caravan routes into the wider Islamic world and the Arabian Peninsula.
Knowing its value, Harar’s rulers strictly regulated coffee trade, striving to protect both the crop and its marketing—safeguarding, in lean years and times of siege, not just an economy but a culture and the city’s ongoing resilience.
Francesco C. Marmocchi, « La Nubia e L’Abissinia, » 1858
This map, titled “La Nubia e L’Abissinia,” created by Francesco C. Marmocchi in 1858, is a striking example of the era’s simplified cartography—much of the region is simply marked as “Terra Incognita.”
It reminds us how little was truly known, or mapped, in European circles about the inner landscapes of the Horn of Africa at mid-century.
But there is an exception, even if it has received almost no attention from historians, geographers, or other researchers. A map prepared by a German atlas printing house in 1849 can be found at the National Library of Estonia.
Friedrich Handtke (1815-1879), North-East Africa, 1849, showing Harrar, Aden and Zeila
Measuring 39 by 66 centimeters and based on 1840s Prussian and Austro-Hungarian diplomatic sources, it was published by Carl Flemming (1806–1878) with the assistance of cartographer Friedrich Handtke (1815–1879).
Notably, the southernmost part of the map is simply left blank, identified only by a few generic labels.
The map is accessible online, courtesy of the National Library of Estonia [https://www.digar.ee/viewer/et/nlib-digar:429790/365577/page/1].
The Biennale exhibition included a modest reference to Rimbaud’s years in Harar, pointing quietly to the presence of Ethiopian Christian culture during his stay—a time when this heritage was beginning to take hold in a city long defined by its Muslim past.
One item: an early engraving of the Ark of the Covenant, which for Ethiopians remains important and has also entered popular imagination with films like “Indiana Jones.”
Next to it: a processional key, a liturgical object associated with the church of Maryam Tsion in Aksum, considered the resting place of the Ark according to Ethiopian tradition.
The key bears the name “Maryam Aksum,” written in the local script.
When Rimbaud accepted this job in Harar—to negotiate coffee purchases directly with local producers on behalf of a Marseilles trading house—the geography and history of the region were still largely unknown in Europe. The Great Rift would only be described and analyzed some years later; the region would be photographed and mapped, but not yet. Rimbaud thus found himself, quite naturally, in the unlikely position of being the first—geographer, ethnographer, poet, and sometimes even photographer—to observe and describe the lands around Harar, on the edge of Oromia and the Ogaden…
To be continued tomorrow with an article devoted to the photographs taken by Rimbaud himself, including this view of Harar’s central market.
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891). Market Place Harar, (circa May) 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, Bibliothèque de Charleville-Mézières
Since it’s summer—the season for games and questions:
Do you know when coffee, as a plant or as a coffeehouse, first appeared in an image — in the East, in the West, in a photograph, or on film?
Georges Méliès (1861-1838). Scène dans un café, fragment non identifié
If you would like to contact Jean Hugues to talk with him or ask questions about his movies, you’ll find him on : instagram.com/jeanhuguesberrou/ [https://www.instagram.com/jeanhuguesberrou/]
La Fotografia è la più bella delle collezioni …
Senigallia, città della fotografia, ospitera nuovi spazi dedicato alla ricerca e promozione della fotografia.
Atelier 41 si trova 41 via fratelli Bandiera.
Senigallia diventerà la Città delle collezioni.
Any question : fotografia@atelier41.org
Share transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-fb-suhnud-duhrljnjy-e/ Tweet transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-tw-suhnud-duhrljnjy-s/ Share [https://transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-li-suhnud-duhrljnjy-yk/] Forward consigneditdisergeplantureux.forwardtomyfriend.com/d-duhrljnjy-3D431DD6-suhnud-l-g
ATELIER 41
Via Fratelli Bandiera 41
60019 Senigallia
Italy
Preferences consigneditdisergeplantureux.updatemyprofile.com/d-suhnud-3D431DD6-duhrljnjy-w | Unsubscribe transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-u-suhnud-duhrljnjy-yd/

This second study devoted to Arthur Rimbaud and the world of photography presents highlights from the conference of Hugues Fontaine, focusing on Rimbaud’s Silhouette on the shores of the Red Sea
No images? Click here transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-e-sulqut-duhrljnjy-c/
BIENNALE DI SENIGALLIA
Persian miniature from the mid-19th century, merchants sailing on the Red Sea
“ARTHUR RIMBAUD AND PHOTOGRAPHY”
II. Portraits of Rimbaud on the Shores of the Red Sea. Conference by Hugues Fontaine
On the conference day, second speaker was Hugues Fontaine, well known for his meticulous investigations into photographs of the Horn of Africa from the period when Arthur Rimbaud stayed there, particularly in Obock and Tadjoura in the 1880s.
His approach is characterized by caution and a refusal to jump to conclusions.
Fontaine published the work of little-known photographer Édouard Bidault de Glatigné, who documented Obock and Tadjoura during the same period, producing a unique collection of photographs of the landscapes and the people who came into contact with Rimbaud at that time.
Bidault de Glatigné’s vintage prints are extremely rare and we could not obtain any in time.
Nevertheless, the exhibition at the IV Biennale of Senigallia offered several period documents, along with a selection of modern enlargements, that evoke Arthur Rimbaud’s time in the Orient during the 1880s.
Among these was a striking panoramic view of Aden, eloquent in revealing the modern quarters of this most curious city, districts built both before and after the opening of the Suez Canal, all carved into the blazing crater of a volcano.
This ancient city experienced an upsurge after 1175, drawing sailors and merchants from Egypt, Sind, Africa, and even China. Aden, successively independent, Ottoman, or Portuguese, came under the rule of the sultans of Lahej before being ceded in 1838 by Sultan Muhsin bin Fadi to join the British colonial empire—a move that gave it a central position between Suez, Zanzibar, and Bombay.
One must imagine Aden, at that time, as a small village of some 600 inhabitants—Arabs, Somalians, Jews, and Indians—most of them living in reed huts or sleeping on mats amid the ruins, reminders of a vanished era of wealth and prosperity. The population rose dramatically: 6,000 in 1839, 19,289 in 1872, and 34,860 by 1889.
The Erasmus students supported the idea of displaying both the small vintage citrate print and the modern enlargement, printed by Andrea Franceschetti on our handmade Fabriano paper, side by side.
For the past fifty years, researchers, historians, and collectors have scrutinized every passerby in this Red Sea port as they pore over photographs from the 1880s, searching for a glimpse of the young poet who became a coffee trade broker.
Like André Guyaux, Hugues Fontaine prefers not to dwell on misidentifications and errors, although it must be acknowledged that such mistakes have helped to stimulate research into the various travelers who were present on the shores of the Red Sea during Rimbaud’s time.
At present, there are essentially only two known portraits from Rimbaud’s period in the Orient: a group portrait that includes him near Aden, and a series of three self-portraits taken under his direction in Harar.
NEAR ADEN
Today, after much research, only a single group portrait taken in Aden—or more accurately, in the environs of Aden and Lahej—is accepted as authentic.
Several newly uncovered documents now support the identification of Rimbaud in this rather unexpected photograph, where the travelers, it must be said, resemble caricatures from the colonial era.
At that time, Sheikh Othman was a small village with only a few hundred inhabitants, located about ten kilometers north of Aden, between Aden Camp and the town of Lahej. The site was not only an oasis of remarkable freshness in an otherwise arid region, but also, according to Revoil, the location of possible remains of a Phoenician-era glassworks. In this group portrait, six men, each holding a rifle, are posed in two rows in front of the manor house of Hassan Ah, a wealthy notable from Aden.
Although the photographer is uncredited on the vintage albumen print, it is now generally agreed that the image was taken by the explorer-photographer Georges Révoil, who published several works on the region, including Voyage au cap des aromates (1880) and Faune et Flore des pays Somalis (1882).
Georges Révoil (attributed). Group portrait of travelers. Albumen print, 110×150 mm, captioned in ink on mount: « Environs of Aden. Before lunch at Sheikh Othman. » 24 or 25 January 1883
This attribution relies, in particular, on two letters from Georges Révoil, published within a few months of each other in the Revue d’Ethnographie in 1883: “Three days ago, Mr. Tian, Mr. Greffulhe, and I went to Sheikh Othman, partly to hunt and partly to visit this annex of the British colony … archaeological research…” (January 27, 1883)
“I photographed and collected everything of interest—monuments, inscriptions, sculptures. I enlisted the help of the local quarrymen who dig around present-day Mogadishu, extracting stones from ancient buildings to use in new constructions. Unfortunately, I recovered only fragments, yet they covered various periods, and among the most interesting finds were elements identical to those at Sheikh Othman near Aden—enameller’s kilns, fused and drawn glass, beads, evidence of local crafts. There were no bracelets in production, but I found fragments much like those in Sheikh Othman, as well as coins, and in short, all the evidence suggesting that the occupants of Mogadishu were related to those of Sheikh Othman…” (April 20, 1883).
This archaeological approach, undertaken for the French Society, aligns much more closely with our understanding of Arthur Rimbaud, rather than the notion of his merely accompanying well-fed gentlemen on a hunting trip. Révoil’s letters also provide the names of those present: Mr. Tian, Mr. Greffulhe, and Révoil himself, the photographer.
César Tian is readily identifiable with his beard; he is also documented as having several later connections with Rimbaud.
Henri Robert Émile Greffulhe (1845–1896) was a French figure involved in commerce and geography in East Africa—a corresponding member of the Geographical Society of Lyon, who died in Zanzibar in 1896. He served as a commercial agent, managing a coal depot for companies such as Messageries Maritimes and Mala Real, and acted as a liaison for learned societies, though he left no major published works.
The next portrait, presented by Hugues Fontaine, is the famous self-portrait that Rimbaud sent to his beloved family in France in May 1883, along with two others that have faded so much no one can interpret them.
THE BANANA GARDEN
It’s commonly called a self-portrait, but in fact the photo was taken from such a distance that it’s clear someone must have helped Rimbaud capture the shot.
Of course, Rimbaud himself conceived and staged the image, but Hugues explains that the person who pressed the button—the one who actually triggered the shutter—was his close friend and assistant Sotiro, Sotiro Constantin Chriseos (Sotiros Konstantinescu Chryseus, also known as Adji-Abdallah).
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) with Sotiro. Self-portrait with arms crossed, in a banana garden, Harar, (circa May) 1883. Albumen print, 180×130 mm, BnF
The two other self-portraits that Rimbaud sent in the same envelope from Harar will be discussed in a future post. In any case, they are so flawed that no one has ever been able to use them for any kind of identification.
What truly moves Hugues Fontaine, and sometimes even makes his voice quiver with excitement, is sharing a discovery that a Swiss collector friend brought to his attention. Here’s how it went: while buying an album of photographs from Obock, he was struck by the unusual nature of the last image—completely different from all the others.
It showed a man looking quite pleased with himself, enjoying a beer under a tent or in the shade… and, just barely visible in the background, a faint silhouette, overexposed by the harsh light of the Red Sea sun.
Circle of Édouard Bidault de Glatigné, Surprising Scene at Obock, circa 1886
The British had established Aden as a major port in their colonial empire as early as 1838/1839, a crucial stop on the route to Bombay and Zanzibar. Steamer Point—coal, water, warehouses—became the lifeline for ships passing through the Red Sea.
Across the Gulf, by the early 1880s, a handful of French adventurers dreamed up a counterweight in Obock: a coal depot, a few trading posts, and above all, a base to open the trade routes into Abyssinia. Obock never rivaled Aden in size, but it was a statement, a foothold, a kind of promise.
THE OBOCK SILHOUETTE
We know Rimbaud came to Obock—he passed through, and may have stayed more than once. More than that, he settled for a time just along the coast in Tadjourah. The dates line up; the geography fits. Photographs from the albums Fontaine studied suggest as much. It was a time when everyone was waiting—waiting for the right steamer, the right shipment, waiting for news from the interior.
For Hugues, it has never been about looking for a Rimbaud double. He deeply believes that Rimbaud himself would never have allowed a true portrait of his changed face to be taken—preferring, as always, to keep a distance. In Hugues’s view, only a silhouette, a hint, or a distant presence would be true to Rimbaud’s character.
With characteristic care and thought, Hugues suggests that the faint figure in Obock might well be in harmony with the two other rare traces of Rimbaud—a respectful acknowledgment of mystery, rather than a claim to certainty.
If you would like to contact Hugues to talk with him or ask questions about this Obock silhouette, simply click on one of the images to visit his blog at rimbaudphotographe.eu [https://rimbaudphotographe.eu/]
or send him an email at the following address: [huguesfontaine@gmail.com]
La Fotografia è la più bella delle collezioni …
Senigallia, città della fotografia, ospitera nuovi spazi dedicato alla ricerca e promozione della fotografia.
Atelier 41 si trova 41 via fratelli Bandiera.
Senigallia diventerà la Città delle collezioni.
Any question : fotografia@atelier41.org
Share transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-fb-sulqut-duhrljnjy-q/ Tweet transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-tw-sulqut-duhrljnjy-a/ Share [https://transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-li-sulqut-duhrljnjy-w/] Forward consigneditdisergeplantureux.forwardtomyfriend.com/d-duhrljnjy-3D431DD6-sulqut-l-f
ATELIER 41
Via Fratelli Bandiera 41
60019 Senigallia
Italy
Preferences consigneditdisergeplantureux.updatemyprofile.com/d-sulqut-3D431DD6-duhrljnjy-z | Unsubscribe transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-u-sulqut-duhrljnjy-v/

This article introduces a series of five studies devoted to the subtle and growing interest in the relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and the world of photography.
No images? Click here transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-e-sulqul-duhrljnjy-v/
BIENNALE DI SENIGALLIA
“ARTHUR RIMBAUD AND PHOTOGRAPHY”
I. Portraits of Rimbaud the Poet. Conference by André Guyaux
The Biennale di Senigallia had the honor of welcoming André Guyaux to deliver the opening lecture at the study day devoted to Rimbaud and Photography. He spoke with clarity and directness about the very small number of known portraits of the poet, produced by photographers or artists who crossed his path. A few of these images have provided lasting inspiration for generations of painters and creators, who continue to revisit and reinterpret the image of France’s most famous poet.
André Guyaux chose not to dwell on the long list of misidentifications, incorrect attributions, or fakes intended to deceive. He noted there are essentially three photographic portraits that can be definitively validated for the young Rimbaud, if one includes the earliest, taken at his first communion in May 1866, at a time when he was just beginning to compose his first verses in Latin [https://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/poesies/Ver-erat.html]:
Ver erat, et morbo Romae languebat inerti
Orbilius: dira tacuerunt tela magistri
Plagarumque sonus non jam veniebat ad aures,
Nec ferula assiduo cruciabat membra dolore. [https://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/poesies/Ver-erat.html]
(It was spring, yet Orbilius, sick with Rome’s dull blight,
Lay weary, while the master’s cruel darts ceased their flight.
No longer came the crack of rods upon the ear,
No longer did the whip bring pain so sharp and near.)
Louis Eugène Vassogne (1836–1881). Frédéric and Arthur Rimbaud at their First Communion. Studio portrait, Charleville, Pentecost 1866. Albumen print, 215 x 145 mm, uncredited, BnF, available online via Gallica
The solemn communion ceremony likely took place according to Catholic tradition then in force—up until 1910—on Pentecost Sunday, which in 1866 fell on 20 May, the seventh Sunday after Easter.
Vassogne was one of the few established photographers in Charleville at the time, alongside Emile Jacoby. Few archival records remain, but several cartes de visite portraits by Vassogne are known, including one of Vitalie Rimbaud around 1873 (J. Desse). The François Boisjoly collection contains about twenty of these portraits, several identifiable by recurring elements such as the same carpet or chair, as noted by Jacques Desse in his article “Le Premier Portrait.”
A single known print of this portrait remained in the family and was eventually sold in the 1950s by the widow of Paterne Berrichon; it was subsequently acquired by Alexandrine de Rothschild. When her major collection was auctioned in 1969, the print was acquired by preemption for the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Étienne Carjat (1828–1906). Arthur Rimbaud. First studio portrait, 10 rue ND de Lorette, October 1871. Three known carte-de-visite, 215 x 145 mm, credited (one at BnF)
Carjat most likely met Rimbaud at the first Vilains Bonshommes dinner, to which the young poet was invited, held on Saturday, 30 September 1871.
“To further increase your regret at missing the last Vilains Bonshommes dinner, I must tell you that we saw and heard for the first time a little fellow of 17, whose almost childlike face hardly shows even 14, and who is the most astonishing example of precocious maturity we have ever encountered. Arthur Rimbaud—remember this name; unless fate drops a stone on his head, it will become that of a great poet. ‘Jesus among the doctors,’ said d’Hervilly. Another said: ‘He’s the devil!’—which led me to this even better and new formula: the devil among the doctors. . . Come to the next dinner, so we can forget that you missed the previous ones, and accept the warmest regards of your very obliged and devoted… Léon Valade.”
For the discussion about the chronology of the two portraits Carjat made, see the end of the article. Isabelle Rimbaud herself compared the first and the following portrait in a letter to her future husband, Paterne Berrichon:
“There is here a (second) photograph taken by Carjat, a bit after the one you used as a model: Arthur had already changed a lot; he was thinner and had an inspired look.”
Étienne Carjat (1828–1906). Arthur Rimbaud with a Cravat. Studio portrait, 10 rue Notre-Dame de Lorette, Paris, December 1871. After a silver print, reproduction around 1911
« … Is this not truly “the Sublime Child,” without Chateaubriand’s terrible contradiction, but not without the protest of lips long since sensual and a pair of eyes lost more in very old memory than in any precocious dream? Is there not, in those bold nostrils, a smile of a boyish Casanova—yet much more seasoned in adventure—and does not that fine, rugged chin declare “Go take a hike” to any illusion that owes its existence only to the most irrevocable will? At least, to our mind, that splendid mop of hair could only have been so disheveled by pillows thoroughly crushed by the elbow of pure, sultanesque whim. And that utterly virile disdain for any toilette unnecessary to such ‘devilish beauty’! » (Paul Verlaine, “Lutèce,” Saturday, 29 March 1884)
The legendary portrait, the one known throughout the world, is still elusive today. It circulates only as a reproduction, a copy made circa 1911 for Paul Claudel’s documentation.
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904). Un coin de table – Dîner des Vilains Bonhommes,
Oil on canvas (detail). Exhibited at the Salon of 1872, inaugurated around 18 May 1872.
According to the available testimonies, Rimbaud is said to have posed only once in the painter’s studio, rue des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and then only in the company of Verlaine (Jean-Baptiste Baronian). For further details, see Luce Abélès, Fantin-Latour “Coin de table”. Verlaine, Rimbaud et les Vilains Bonhommes, exhibition catalogue, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, 30 November 1987 – 28 February 1988.
On 7 March 1898, at Fantin-Latour’s invitation, Isabelle Rimbaud received a photographic reproduction of a gouache and chalk drawing by Fantin-Latour, today held at the Pierpont Morgan Library. She took this reproduction the very same day to Mercure de France for use in illustrating the Œuvres complètes of Rimbaud by Berrichon and Delahaye. The fate of this copy-watercolor is discussed in detail by Jacques Bienvenu in his article “À propos d’un Rimbaud souriant et d’une gouache,” which explores the provenance of the image and questions surrounding the rare depiction of Rimbaud with a near-smile.
Changing Faces: Rimbaud’s Carjat Portraits in Question
For a century, a persistent mystery has divided opinion: although Rimbaud’s identity in the two photographs is undisputed, he looks so different that a quick analysis suggests two distinct periods in his life, forcing a choice between different theories.
Carjat and Rimbaud met for the first time on the evening of September 30, 1871, so Rimbaud could not have visited his studio before October 1st. Their relationship deteriorated as a result of Rimbaud’s poor behavior, culminating in the tragic incident of March 2, 1872; therefore, Rimbaud’s visits to Carjat’s studio must have ended by that date.
Charles Houin’s iconographic research for the Revue d’Ardenne et d’Argonne, carried out in the late 1890s, is notable for its scientific integrity. Although there are errors due to the inaccuracy of witnesses’ memories, his rigor in verifying publications and portraits is exemplary. Houin tracked down the owners of the existing Carjat portraits, one of which was even dedicated, and dated the Carjat portraits to October and December 1871, respectively.
The Charleville testimonies agree on Rimbaud’s physical transformation during the six months he was away in Paris from mid-September 1871 to mid-March 1872, marked by weight loss, growth of more than 20 cm, and a change in appearance.
Etienne Carjat in the small garden of his studio in the courtyard, circa 1871
Étienne Carjat remains a somewhat enigmatic figure among Parisian photographers of the Second Empire. An assistant to Pierre Petit and under the protection of banker Rothschild, he was close to discreet republican circles. Carjat once employed Charles Baudelaire during one of the most remarkable publishing ventures of the 1860s: Le Boulevard.
Initially established at 56 rue Lafitte, near the church of Notre-Dame de Lorette, Carjat went bankrupt during the Commune period and subsequently set up again at 10 rue Notre-Dame de Lorette, working in a beautiful, light-filled courtyard. It was there that he produced, among other works, two crucial portraits of the young poet Arthur Rimbaud. He first met Rimbaud on 30 September 1871 at a rather lively dinner.
Carjat was a regular at the gatherings of the “Vilains Bonhommes,” held on Saturday evenings from 1869 to 1872. These dinners brought together Paul Verlaine, Léon Valade, Albert Mérat, Charles Cros and his brothers Henry and Antoine, Camille Pelletan, Émile Blémont, Ernest d’Hervilly, and Jean Aicard, along with painters like Fantin-Latour and Michel-Eudes de L’Hay, writer Paul Bourget, comic illustrators André Gill and Félix Régamey, and Parnassian poets such as Léon Dierx, Catulle Mendès, Théodore de Banville, Stéphane Mallarmé, and, naturally, François Coppée.
Fresh from Charleville, Arthur Rimbaud was invited by Verlaine to his first Vilains Bonhommes dinner on Saturday, 30 September 1871. He was met with great admiration, especially after reading his poem “Le Bateau ivre.”
During the Biennale, 50 vintage cartes-de-visite by Carjat from the same period are presented. Material examination reveals notable differences between Carjat’s various cartes-de-visite: details such as size, proportions, oval framing, and address colors vary between prints, indicating different production batches.
When examining the daily practices of 19th-century photographic studios, it can be observed that photographers would order mounting cards from printers as needed, rather than maintaining a uniform stock. This approach naturally resulted in a considerable variety of card designs and formats over time.
A detailed comparison of the mounting cards for the two portraits of Rimbaud clearly shows that they originate from different production batches. The differences in card style and fabrication support the conclusion that the sessions took place at separate times, with a notable interval between them.
It is worth noting—a detail that might surprise at first—that the two famous Carjat portraits of Rimbaud, when analyzed by facial recognition software, are not identified as the same person.
The algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are categorical.
This assertion, surprising at first glance, will meet an explanation.
The algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are categorical: The two Carjat portraits are not identified as the same person !
This assertion, surprising at first glance, has an explanation.
In 2025, advances in digital technologies—such as the application of the Blender software—have made it possible to produce precise volumetric renderings of the two portraits by Carjat, utilizing Gaussian projection, despite the poor quality of the reproduced image of the second portrait.
Three-dimensional analyses of the skulls reveal a notable divergence between the subjects, even though both are presumed to represent Rimbaud.
This observation prompts further investigation. How is it possible ?
The key to this puzzle lies in geometric and optical differences: it appears that the lenses used by Carjat during the respective sessions were clearly distinct. This finding contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding the chronology of Carjat’s photographic sessions with Rimbaud, suggesting that the portraits were created in separate sittings, and underscores the influence of technical choices on the interpretation of photographic portraits.
The key to this puzzle lies in the geometric and optical distinctions observed between the portraits: evidence suggests that Carjat selected different lenses for each session—using a low-angle optic in one, and its counterpart configured for a higher viewpoint in the other.
Now, when computer software attempts to reconstruct the shape of the skull from these images, the variation between the optical setups further amplifies the perceived differences. Each lens distorts spatial relationships in its own way, so digital volumetric modeling accentuates the discrepancies already introduced by the different photographic perspectives. This makes the resulting reconstructions appear even more distinct than what might be seen by direct visual comparison, highlighting the crucial impact of Carjat’s technical choices on our interpretation of the portraits.
This finding contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding the chronology of Carjat’s photographic sessions with Rimbaud, suggesting that the portraits were created in separate sittings, and underscores the influence of technical choices on the interpretation of photographic portraits.
Paul Verlaine summed it up well: « One should not place too much trust in the portraits we have of Rimbaud, including the caricature shown here, however amusing and artistic it may be. Rimbaud, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, when he wrote the verses and prose we know, was rather handsome—very handsome—rather than ugly, as evidenced by Fantin’s portrait in his Coin de table, which is in Manchester. A kind of sweetness shone and smiled in his cruel light blue eyes and on that red, strong mouth with its bitter line: mysticism and sensuality, and what sensuality! One day, we will finally obtain ‘approximate’ likenesses. » (Les Hommes d’Aujourd’hui, January 1888)
The next chapter in “Rimbaud’s Adventures in Photography” continues tomorrow: Hugues Fontaine may have discovered the silhouette of Arthur Rimbaud in an African photograph…
La Fotografia è la più bella delle collezioni …
Senigallia, città della fotografia, ospitera nuovi spazi dedicato alla ricerca e promozione della fotografia.
Atelier 41 si trova 41 via fratelli Bandiera.
Senigallia diventerà la Città delle collezioni.
Any question : fotografia@atelier41.org
Share transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-fb-sulqul-duhrljnjy-e/ Tweet transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-tw-sulqul-duhrljnjy-s/ Share [https://transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-li-sulqul-duhrljnjy-f/] Forward consigneditdisergeplantureux.forwardtomyfriend.com/d-duhrljnjy-3D431DD6-sulqul-l-g
ATELIER 41
Via Fratelli Bandiera 41
60019 Senigallia
Italy
Preferences consigneditdisergeplantureux.updatemyprofile.com/d-sulqul-3D431DD6-duhrljnjy-w | Unsubscribe transmission.plantureux.it/t/d-u-sulqul-duhrljnjy-yd/