Laure Albin Guillot (née ''Meifredy''; 15 February 1879 – 22 February 1962) was a French photographer. In addition to portraits of Paris celebrities, she covered a wide variety of genres and had a number of high-ranking positions.

Biography

Born Laure Maffredi in Paris, she attended the Lycée Molière in the

16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

. In 1897 she married Dr. Albin Guillot, a specialist in microscopy. Working from her studio at her home on Rue du Ranelagh, she published her first fashion photographs in the French edition of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' in 1922. The same year, she won a gold medal in a contest sponsored by Revue Francaise de Photographie. From 1924 to 1950, she exhibited regularly at the ''Salon international de photographie'' and at the ''

Salon des artistes décorateurs Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

''. She had her first one-person exhibition with forty prints at the Paris Salon d'Automne in 1925. The works she exhibited at the 1925

International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts () was a specialized exhibition held in Paris, France, from April 29 (the day after it was inaugurated in a private ceremony by the President of France) to November 8, 1925 (O ...

were signed Laure Albin Guillot, paving her way to celebrity. After her husband died in 1929, she moved to Boulevard de Beauséjour where she received the artistic celebrities of the day including

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, m ...

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

Anna de Noailles Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan; ; 15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian, Greek and Bulgarian descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. She was the only female poet ...

and

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

. In the course of the 1930s, she travelled widely to North Africa, Spain, Italy, Sweden and the United States. Her work was frequently published in the press while she participated in solo and collective exhibitions at home and abroad. In 1931, she was the first in France to photograph decorative microscopic images which she called "micrographie", combining science with visual art."Laure Albin Guillot (1879–1962), l’enjeu classique"
Jeu de Paume. Retrieved 13 March 2013. The same year, she became president of the ''Union féminine des carrières libérales et commerciales'', an organisation bent on supporting the interests of women in professional life. In 1932, she was appointed head of a number of key bodies, including the director of photographic archives for the Direction générale des Beaux-Arts, the first curator of the Cinémathèque nationale. The first of her works combining photography with literature was published in 1936 when she illustrated Paul Valéry's ''Narcisse'', publishing further works from 1940 to 1944 during the German occupation. In 1937, she organised the exhibition ''Femmes artistes d'Europe''. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Albin Guillot continued to work as a portraitist at her studio on the Boulevard du Séjour until she retired in 1956 to the Maison Nationale des Artistes in

Nogent-sur-Marne Nogent-sur-Marne () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Nogent-sur-Marne is a ''Subprefectures in France, sous-préfecture'' of the Val-de-Marne ''Depar ...

. She died at the

Hôpital Saint-Antoine Hôpital Saint-Antoine () is a university hospital of the Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at ''184, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine''. It is part of the AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospi ...

in Paris on 22 February 1962. Her studio archive, comprising 52,000 negatives and 20,000 prints, now belongs to the city of Paris.

Style

Laure Albin Guillot exhibited in the 1920s, adopting a classical approach or French style rather than the avant-garde trends of the day."Laure Albin Guillot (1879-1962) l'enjeu classique"
Jeu de Paume. Retrieved 13 March 2013. Or see "Document PDF téléchargeable > PetitJournal_LaureAlbinGuillot
at foot of page here
/ref> But it was in the 1930s and 1940s that her work dominated the photographic scene. She covered a variety of genres, everything from portraits and nudes to landscapes, still lifes and, to a lesser extent, journalism. A master of technology, she made use of the very latest methods of image production, perfectly suited to the requirements of publication.

Illustrated works

Laure Albin Guillot illustrated the following works: *

: ''Narcisse'' (1936) *Paul Valéry: ''La Cantate du Narcisse'' (1941) *Paul Valéry: ''Arbres'' (1943) *Pierre Louÿs: ''Les Douze Chansons de Bilitis'' (1937) *

Henry de Montherlant Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Biography Born in Paris, a descendant of ...

: ''La Déesse Cypris'' (1946) *''Illustrations pour les Préludes de

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

'' (1948)

Exhibitions

*Laure Albin Guillot (1879–1962) l'enjeu classique, 26 February – 12 May 2013,

Jeu de Paume ''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, ...

, Paris *Guillot's work was included in the 2021 exhibition ''

Women in Abstraction Women in Abstraction. Another History of Abstraction in the 20th Century or ''Elles font l'abstraction. Une autre histoire de l'abstraction au XXe siècle'' was a major exhibition of 20th century abstract art created by women. It was curated by ...

'' at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

Awards

*1922: Médaille d'or (gold medal), Revue française de photographie."Laure Albin Guillot"
Agence Roger Viollet. Retrieved 14 March 2013.

References

Literature

* *Guillot, Laure Albin (2013), ''l’enjeu classique'', preface: Marta Gili; text: Delphine Desveaux, Catherine Gonnard, Michaël Houlette and Patrick‑Gilles Persin, bilingual French/English, published jointly by Jeu de Paume and Éditions de la Martinière, 192 pages

External links

Large collection of Laure Albin Guillot's photographs from Agence Roger ViolletLaure Albin Guillot
s page o
Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillot, Laure Albin 1879 births 1962 deaths 20th-century French photographers Photographers from Paris 20th-century French women photographers