SELF-PORTRAIT OF JEAN-BAPTISTE FRÉNET. 8 5/8 x 6 2/4-inch calotype, plus the paper negative. Frénet (1814-1889) was a painter, a disciple of Ingres. He began to work with photographs around 1850. A cache of his photographs was discovered in 2000. I presented this in an earlier auction, but only recently compared it with his painted self-portrait, and realized that this is his self-portrait, a little older than the image in the painting. He has trimmed his beard to only protrude from his chin, but the upper part of his face is clearly recognizable—the distinctive hair style with the point coming down over his forehead; the unusual eyeglasses, the ear with the hair behind it. The retouching on the print could also be explained if he was planning to use this image as the basis for another painted self-portrait.
$4000