Turn-of-the-Century French Photographer Rediscovered

This is a comprehensive presentation of previously unknown vintage prints, including the world’s first color photographs, by a remarkable 19th century photographer. Felix Thollier (1842-1914) was born in Saint Etienne, France, a city that was quickly becoming prosperous at the end of the 19th century. He associated with painters like Camille Corot and took photographs of natural or pastoral landscapes. Because of these associations and his style, he has been identified as a pictorialist photographer of the late 19th century. However, his photographs remained unknown until they were made public by a grandchild in the 1980s, and since then their value has been recognized. This exhibition contains more than 150 valuable vintage prints, including examples of autochrome, the first color photographs in the world.
* The text provided by Setagaya Art Museum.