Aimé Dupont
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Aimé Dupont (6 December 1841 – 16 February 1900) was a Belgian-born American sculptor and photographer who was best known for his pictures of opera singers when he was the official photographer for the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
in New York City.


Early life

Dupont was born in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium, the son of one of the city's leading photographers. He was educated at the School of Mines in
Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
, where he learned how to quarry and polish stone for sculptures, as well as the technical process for creating photographic toning agents from minerals. After graduation, he moved to Paris, France, to work at Maison Walery as a photograph technician, but he sculpted in his free time. In the early 1870s, he decided to start his own photography and sculpting business on the
Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...
. During this period, he married Etta Greer, an American woman who spent much of her girlhood in Paris. He won some acclaim for both his arts, including a gold medal for photography in the Paris Exhibition of 1878. As a sculptor, he later was made a ''chevalier'' of the
Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
. One of his notable works was a bust of
Elihu B. Washburne Elihu Benjamin Washburne (September 23, 1816 – October 22, 1887) was an Americans, American politician and diplomat. A member of the Washburn family, which played a prominent role in the early formation of the Republican Party (United States), ...
, who was the
United States Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...
during the
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
administration.


Emigration to the United States

As a result of the
Panic of 1884 The Panic of 1884 was an economic panic during the Depression of 1882–1885. It was unusual in that it struck at the end rather than the beginning of the recession. The panic created a credit shortage that led to a significant economic decline i ...
, many of his sculpting clients were bankrupted and Dupont found he could no longer sustain his business. Under the advice of his wife, the couple moved to New York City, where they established a photography studio in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, with Etta handling the finances so that Dupont could focus on the art. His business strategy was to focus on photographic portraits of celebrities. This proved to be so successful that in 1886 they moved the studio to 574 
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
and he soon became the official photographer for the recently formed Metropolitan Opera. The new studio also included space for sculpting, but it was the photography that was far more lucrative.


Techniques

Dupont was, like his contemporary Napoleon Sarony, renowned for his ability to minimize the shortcomings of his subjects, mostly through the use of perspective. According to one anecdote, Dupont once demonstrated this to a class of amateurs using two female models, one thin and the other heavyset. By placing them face-to-face, the foreground arm of the thin woman appeared to be the same size as the background arm of the heavier one. He was also skilled in the use of
natural light Natural Light, sometimes Natty Light, is an American reduced-calorie light lager brewed by Anheuser-Busch since its introduction on July 31, 1977. Its ingredients are listed as water, barley malt, cereal grains, yeast, and hops. One serving cont ...
and outfitted his studio with screens and reflectors to maximize the effect of sunlight.


Later life

In the 1890s, Aimé Dupont began suffering from
stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...
. Just prior to a sitting with
Emma Eames Emma Eames (August 13, 1865 – June 13, 1952) was an American first dramatic soprano, later lyric soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York ...
, he fell ill and was unable to work. Despite never having done photography work before, Etta Dupont stepped in and successfully kept the appointment. From then on, she would be responsible for posing the subjects. Dupont died of his condition on 16 February 1900. Afterwards, Etta became the photographer for the business (and in later years, their son Albert also took his turn behind the camera), keeping the name Aimé Dupont Studio. For many years, a number of the photographic subjects were under the belief that she was Aimé Dupont. Her endeavors proved to be successful enough for her to open another studio in
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
, photographing socialites when she closed the New York studio for the summers. However, in 1906 the Metropolitan Opera, the studio's primary client, hired its own photographer, and without the artistic direction of Dupont, the business began to suffer. Finally, in 1920, Etta had to declare bankruptcy. She sold the business to an investor, and the name Aimé Dupont Studio continued as a portrait studio until the 1950s.


Gallery

File:Eleonora Duse cph.3a38654.jpg, Eleonora Duse, 1890 File:John Philip Sousa by Dupont cph.3a51640.jpg,
John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...
, 1896 File:Ida Husted Harper photograph by Aime Dupont.jpg,
Ida Husted Harper Ida Husted Harper (February 18, 1851 – March 14, 1931) was an American author, journalist, columnist, and suffragist, as well as the author of a three-volume biography of suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony at Anthony's request. Harper also c ...
, ca. 1910-20 (photo by Etta Greer or Albert Dupont)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupont, Aime 1841 births 1900 deaths Photographers from Brussels Photographers from New York City Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from stomach cancer