Émile Reutlinger (born Emil August Reutlinger, August 27, 1825 – August 9, 1907) was a German-born French photographer. He was the younger brother of and the father of

Léopold-Émile Reutlinger Léopold-Émile Reutlinger (17 March 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a Peruvian-born French photographer. He came from a successful German-Jewish family of photographers. His uncle, Charles Reutlinger, founded the family's photography business, a ...

Biography

Emil August Reutlinger was born on August 27, 1825, in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, then a part of the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

in the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

. He was born into a family of

German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

. In 1848, he emigrated to the United States, possibly residing in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. By 1860, he was in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, where in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, he married Amelia Ellen Horn, a German Protestant, four months following the birth of their first son, Leopold. Emil would father three other children, of which two died during infancy. During his time in Peru, he owned a number of properties in

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

, however, they were destroyed in a severe earthquake that likely occurred in 1868. What exactly he did for a living there is mysterious: contemporary records describe him as an "artist". In 1870, Émile and his family returned to Europe, migrating to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and then Paris, where in 1876, his daughter Juanita was born. After 1870, Emil became involved in his brother Charles's photographing business in Paris. Around that time, he began to go as Émile. In 1880, Charles's company, ''Ch. Reutlinger'', was granted to Émile by Charles. At an exhibition of the ''Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs,'' Reutlinger was awarded a silver medal. In 1888, the ''Ch. Reutlinger'' division in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

won a medal from the Photographer's Association of America for a series of photographs produced by the company. Reutlinger began to gradually deviate from his brother's simplistic and realistic photographs. From 1882 to 1889, he donated to the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

several albums of photographs of

topless dancers Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is known as barechestedness. Social norms around toplessness ...

. Until 1883, Reutlinger worked solely with himself and his employees. In that year however, he began urging his son Leopold to aid him. Leopold and Émile's photography style were fairly similar and subsequently became difficult to distinguish. Due to internal familial disputes, Leopold also worked for various other photography studios during his time collaborating with his father. After a decade of work together, in 1893, Émile gave the company to Leopold, who would run the company until 1930. The ''Ch. Reutlinger'' maintained an extensive network of business connections. On a

visiting card A visiting card, also called a calling card, was a small, decorative card that was carried by individuals to present themselves to others. It was a common practice in the 18th and 19th century, particularly among the upper classes, to leave a visi ...

for

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

that is currently owned by the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, three agencies are listed: the German: New Photographic Society in

Berlin-Steglitz Steglitz () is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is derived from the Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . Steglitz was also a borough from 1920 to 2000. It ...

; the French Société Industrielle de Photographie in Rueil (

Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () or simply Rueil is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department, Île-de-France Regions of France, region. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is ...

near Paris), and the British Rotary Photographic Company in London. Whether these connections were established under Charles or Émile remains the subject of debate, however, it is generally believed that Charles created them. In addition to the aforementioned visiting card, there was also one from Émile and his wife Amelia. In the early 1890s, Émile and his family moved to the German spa town of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

. There, he died on 9 August 1907, just 18 days before his 82nd birthday. He was buried in his family grave by his house, along with Amelia and Juanita too when they died. A photography studio in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

that still exists today would be founded and ran by his granddaughter, Juana Binz, until 1970.

Gallery

File:Tchaikovsky by Reutlinger (cropped).jpg, 1888 photo of

File:Jules Dalou par Reutlinger.jpg,

Jules Dalou Aimé-Jules Dalou (; 31 December 183815 April 1902) was a 19th-century French sculptor, admired for his perceptiveness, execution, and unpretentious realism. Early life Born in Paris to a working-class family of Huguenot background, he was rais ...

. Photo taken prior to 1893. File:Henry Morton Stanley Reutlinger BNF Gallica cropped.jpg, Welsh-American journalist

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...

, taken on August 20, 1884 File:Gaston Maspero Reutlinger BNF Gallica.jpg, French

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist and director general of excavations and antiquities for the Egyptian government. Widely regarded as the foremost Egyptologist of his generation, he be ...

in 1883

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reutlinger, Emlie 1825 births 1907 deaths 19th-century French Jews 19th-century French male artists 19th-century French photographers 19th-century German Jews 19th-century German male artists 19th-century German photographers 20th-century French Jews 20th-century French male artists 20th-century French photographers 20th-century German Jews 20th-century German male artists 20th-century German photographers Artists from Karlsruhe French people of German-Jewish descent Immigrants to the United States Immigrants to Peru Immigrants to France Jewish French artists Jewish German artists People from Baden-Baden People from Callao People from the German Empire People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Photographers from Baden-Württemberg Photographers from Paris