Paul Nadar
This photograph, an unretouched print in pristine condition, was the first important portrait created by Nadar added to the collection of the Met. The glaring eyes, tousled hair, and deliberate pose of Pierre-Clément-Eugène Pelletan (1813–1884), is a fine example of the spirit and intellect of Nadar’s subjects, vividly suggesting the fiery, passionate prose of his essays on art, philosophy, history, social issues, the nature of progress, and liberty.
A few years before he took this photograph, Nadar wrote a thumbnail biography of the combative man it lionizes: "The number one French critic . . . who is at the same time a poet, a man of style, and a man with heart. . . . I have read critical articles by M. Pelletan . . . that moved me as much as a passage from Sand and interested me as much as a novel by Balzac."