| | | 1914-1919, The War, 150 Artist plates from the personal collection of Major Tournassoud
The images in this exhibition are drawn from a portfolio by Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud (1866-1951):
"1914-1919, The War, 150 Artist plates from the personal collection of Major Tournassoud"
Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud, French photographer, was born in Montmerle s/Saône in 1866.
Son of a shoemaker and with nothing more than an elementary degree in carpentry, Tournassoud decided to stay in the army after completion of his military service in 1887. A career in the military offered him an opportunity to climb the social ladder and, thanks to his sharp mind and his intelligence, Tournassoud attained the rank of Major by the time he retired. While an officer of the "Legion d‘honneur" he received the French "Croix de Guerre" as well as the "Médaille du Sauvetage" and the "Médaille d‘Or des Alliés".
Tournassoud‘s love for photography developed very early on. In 1900, he befriended the Lumière brothers and became, along with them, one of the very first photographers to gain experience with the Autochrome. Whether at home with his family or away on assignments, Tournassoud took several thousand photographs - in black and white and in color- ranging from scenes of military life including the First World War, portraits, family life, landscapes and still lives.
The First World War gave him an opportunity to carry out many photographic missions on the front line: these missions brought him a special mention for "invaluable services rendered in the line of duty". In October 1918, he was named director of the army‘s Photographic and Cinematographic Section within the office of the Minister of War, Georges Clemenceau who was also Prime Minister at that time. He spent most of the war years on the front lines, taking over 3000 photographs in active war zones and more than 800 Autochrome plates.
In addition to the battle scenes and the life of the camp, Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud made portraits of the great military French figures of the time: Foch, Joffre, Pétain, Nivelle, Weygand, Lyautey, Mangin, Debeney etc. A friend of Georges Clemenceau, he made also several portraits of the "Tiger" (as Clemenceau was affectionately known in France during the war), these portraits were eventually exhibited at the Clemenceau Museum, in Paris.
During this period, a great many number of his war photographs were published in French magazines such as " L‘ Illustration", "Sur le Vif" or " Pages de Gloire" "le Monde Illustré", "Le Nouvelliste" etc.
In 1919, Tournassoud mounted an exceptional exhibition of his finest war entitled "Subjects of War 1914-1919". 750 photographs were listed in the exhibition catalogue which accompanied the show and it traveled to many of France‘s larger cities including Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Metz, Colmar and Mulhouse.
Not only a recognized photographer, Tournassoud was also an excellent technician in the darkroom. His prints, all which he made himself, are, in their tonalities, of an exceptional quality, true artist proofs. Several postcards were published from this collection.
As a foreword to the exhibition catalogue, Major Tournassoud wrote:
"Far from me the thought to make, with my limited resources, a photographic history of the war... I only sought to note my personal memories and impressions, sometimes amusing and comforting, too often, alas! full of sadness and of indignation... If I could obtain some happy results, I owe them to Messrs Auguste and to Louis Lumière, my guides, who led me for many years in the artistic way, and I would be very grateful if they would allow me to dedicate to them the whole of these memories as a testimony of my admiration and my recognition." Paris, February 23, 1919. Major Tournassoud
Following the exhibition, a splendid portfolio entitled "1914-1919, The War, 150 Artist plates from the personal collection of Major Tournassoud" was published. Maréchal Pétain, who had been the Commander in Chief of the French Army, prefaced the book by outlining the quality of this work:
"Your prints... say with an unequalled eloquence all the picturesque and the tragedy of this war. Miseries of the invasion, glories of our resistance and of our victory".
We are pleased to present in this exhibition a few images scanned directly from this book: together with a great humanity and poesy, Tournassoud mastered constructed narrative photography or tableaux photography reminiscent of a painter, with a special focus on light and composition
Major Tournassoud kept close links with the army after his retirement in 1921. In 1929 he published a very beautiful booklet entitled "The Artillery Military Academy of Poitiers" which included about sixty photographs describing the instruction and training reserved to the Cadet-Officers.
© Nadia Valla (August, 2006)
For more info on Tournassoud go to www.tournassoud.org
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