Felice Beato and Japan: a free exhibition of photographs from the Cernuschi collection

As the Musée Cernuschi prepares to unveil its new retrospective exhibition " Retour d'Asie - Henri Cernuschi, un collectionneur au temps du japonisme " ( Back from Asia - Henri Cernuschi, a collector in the age of Japonism ) this autumn, the Parisian museum is unveiling a photographic installation to be viewed free of charge from September 26 to December 17, 2023 in the museum's Salle Peinture.

Called " Felice Beato et le Japon, photographies de la collection Cernuschi " (" Felice Beato and Japan, photographs from the Cernuschi collection " ), the exhibition features photographs of Japan taken by Felice Beato (1832-1909), from the Cernuschi collection.

Born in 1832 and died in 1909, the Italian photographer Felice Beato, who became a naturalized English citizen, is best known for his war photographs. In 1863, Felice Beato met artist Charles Wirgman in Yokohama, Japan. With him, he founded his very first Japanese photographic studio. From then on, he made a series of trips, notably to the capital Edo and later, in 1864, when the artist and photographer joined the Shimonoseki Punitive Expedition.

It was on November 26, 1866, that his career really took off. As a fire destroyed much of Yokohama, Felice Beato lost his studio and his negatives. Undeterred, he managed to rebuild his collection over the following two years.

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• Portrait éphémère du Japon: Pierre-Élie de Pibrac's photography exhibition at the Musée Guimet

This exhibition features photographs taken by Felice Beato and belonging to the Cernuschi collection. It was in 1871 that Henri Cernuschi (1821-1896) made a major trip to Asia, in the company of his friend Théodore Duret (1838-1927). The first stop on their journey? Japan. It was on this trip that Henri Cernuschi is said to have brought back these photographs, taken from two albums that Felice Beato offered for sale in 1868:"Native Types" and"Views of Japan". While the first series reveals portraits of Japanese people, the second features various landscapes and landmarks of Japan at the time.

Through this free installation and these photos by Felice Beato, the Paris museum thus takes us in the footsteps of Cernuschi and Duret to Japan, from Yokohama via Edo (now Tōkyō), then Kyōto and Ōsaka.

" Due to the fragility of 19th-century photographs made on albumen paper - these yellow and fade when exposed to light for too long - a selection of facsimiles made from the museum's collection is offered here," the cultural venue states in a press release.

Visit the Musée Cernuschi in Paris from September 26 to December 17, 2023 to discover the free exhibition " Felice Beato and Japan, photographs from the Cernuschi collection".