A draped figure study of a woman.

René Le Bègue: 1857-1904

After studying art, Le Bègue devoted himself to photography. In 1888 he was one of the founding members of the Photo-Club de Paris and in 1894 he co-organized the first Salon for Photography in Paris. In the same year, Le Bègue was the first Frenchman to exhibit in the Salon of the Linked Ring London and was also accepted as a member. He worked closely with his uncle P.(aul) Bergon and other leading French art photographers. In 1898 he published the book “La Nuit et le Drapé en Plein Air” with Bergon. The Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography in Hamburg listed him as a corresponding member in 1898. (1.) A specialist in the gum bichromate process, two of his photographs were reproduced in Camera Work XVI in 1906.

1. Biography: René Le Bègue: Kunstphotographie Um 1900: Die Sammlung Ernst Juhl; Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 1989, p. 185. Sources: Lit.: Auer 1985, I, n. p.; Krichbaum 1981, p. 116; exhibition catalogue Cologne 1980, pp. 116-121; Harker 1979, p. 179; Naef 1978, p. 411 f.