An older gentleman is portrayed deep in thought while reading.

Gustave Marissiaux: 1872-1929

The following historical chronology of the photographer appears courtesy of the Directory of Belgian Photographers hosted online by Fotomuseum Antwerp. (FOMU)

Life dates

Marles-les-Mines [Pas-de-Calais, F], 1872 – Cagnes-sur-Mer [Alpes Maritimes, F], 1929

Activity

1894 – 1899 / Liège – Cointe (private)

° 1.9.1872; + 25.5.1929. A student of law, he moved to Liège – Cointe in 1893. An amateur in his teens, in 1895 he won the first prize in the technical competition for the use of magnesium organised in Liège. In 1895 he presented a paper to the ABP entitled “Art and Photography”.

1899 * – 1921 / Liège, Rue des Carmes, 10

Marissiaux opened a professional studio in April 1899. In parallel, he continued his pictorialist work. In a series of studies, notably on the Walloon coal mines and on Brittany (“La Terre d’Armor”, 1906-1907), Marissiaux demonstrated a clearly formulated personal vision and an innovative aesthetic sense. In 1904 he was commissioned by the “Syndicat des Charbonnages liégeois”, an employers’ organisation, to make a photographic record of the coal industry in the Liège region. This finished work comprised 450 stereoscopic slides, some of which featured work deep down the pits and in the mine shaft. The work was presented to the general public for the first time in thirty pillar-projectors in the mines section of the International Exhibition of Liège, inaugurated on 24.7.1905. The success of this series “La Houillière” – realised with the technical assistance of Georges Kemna (see that name) – was great, and the jury of class XII (photography) awarded Marissiaux the highest possible commendation, a First Prize. Marissiaux had initially been appointed a member of the jury (La Meuse, 21.12.1903) but presumably resigned in order to compete. Upon the invitation of the “Photo-Club de Paris”, the series was projected again in Paris at the end of 1905. Member of the “Club d’amateurs photographes de Belgique” (“Morissiaux”) in 1908.

In 1908 Marissiaux published the portfolio “Visions d’artiste”, 30 photogravures – landscapes, interiors, portraits – printed by Paulussen of Vienna, a selection from Marissiaux’s work made between 1899 and 1908. A revival of “La Houillière” was staged by the ABP Liège section on 24.10.1913 to pay tribute to Marissiaux “whose reputation as a great artist is universally recognised” (La Meuse, 22.10.1913). Marissiaux practised colour photography (Sury process, in which he had a financial interest) between 1911 and 1920. Exhibited autochromes (views of Italy) at the ABP’s 25th annual slide show in Liège in April 1913. In 1916 he made the series “Jardins d’Italie”, album of transfer prints in oil. By 1920, Marissiaux’s health had deteriorated and he was less active as a photographer. He retired to Cagnes, in the south of France, in 1925.

Locations

1894 – 1899 / Liège – Cointe (private)

1899 * – 1921 / Liège, Rue des Carmes, 10

Exhibitions

Ghent, 1895; Louvain, 1896; Brussels, 1898; Munich, 1898; Nancy, 1898; Berlin, 1899; Ghent, 1899; Roubaix, 1899 (palme d’or and six other awards); Liège, 1900; Mons, 1901; Paris, 1901; Brussels, 1902; Liège, 1902; Turin, 1902 (gold medal); Ghent ABP, 1903; Turin, “Exposition Internationale d’Art Photographique”, 1903; Liège, 1905 (Diplôme de grand prix); Milan, 1906; Brussels, 1907; Brussels, 1908; Ghent, 1913; Liège, 1914 (about 20 Sury process colour prints).

Bibliography/Webography

MOREAU, Yves. “Gustave Marissiaux 1872-1929” in Art et société en Belgique 1848-1914. Charleroi, 1980, pp. 111-131.
MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel. “Marissiaux : le mystère de la chambre noire fermée de l’intérieur”, Clichés, n° 16, 1985, pp. 40-45.
MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel. “Gustave Marissiaux : l’ensevelissement du monde”, Clichés, n° 16, 1985, pp. 48-51.
MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel. “Attraction, narration et culture de classe: trois voyages dans la mine”, Revue belge du cinéma, n° 38-39, 1995, pp. 43-53.
MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel. Gustave Marissiaux: la possibilité de l’art. Charleroi, 1997, 112 pp.
MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel. “Paradoxe esthétique et ambiguïtés sociales d’un documentaire photographique : La Houillère de Gustave Marissiaux (1904-1905)”, Art&Fact, n° 30, 2011, pp. 146-156.
VAN LIEFFERINGE, Amélie. “Gustave Marissiaux. Le «diptyque» formé par La Houillère et Venise”, Annales d’histoire de l’art et d’archéologie, vol. 33, 2011, pp. 161-176.