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CARABIN, FRANÇOIS-RUPERT
(1862–1932)
François-Rupert Carabin, sculptor and cabinetmaker,
fi rst worked as craftsman for a sculptor within the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine in Paris. He was then familiar
to Montmartre, its cafes and cabarets. In the Chat Noir
he met Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Adolphe Willette.
Along with Toulouse-Lautrec he became a close observ-
er of Montmartre brothels looking at “fallen women”
with both tenderness and acuteness. He chose all his
models among them. Most of his sculptures and pieces
of furniture had been inspired by the female body (see
for instance the bookcase designed in 1890 for Henry
Montandon, now kept at the Musée d’Orsay). He went
beyond mere realism; under his chisel women became
mermaids, sphinx. As a critic wrote on Carabin’s works,
his sculptures show a “daring perversity.”
Carabin made from 1895 many photographs of his
nude models in his studio. The albumen prints are
closely related to the artist’s work in decorating furni-
ture. Their poses are charged with some erotic crude-
ness. The many girls who posed for Carabin did not
always have the charm of his sculpted women or they
voluptuous curves. Anyhow, with no doubt put at ease
by the sculptor and full of the banter of young models
in Montmartre, they freely strike the same poses with a
naturalness that shines trough the photographs.
The whole collection is kept at the Musée d’Orsay. They
came there through the Fondation Le Corbusier as the
artist’s heirs had given them to the architect—who met
Carabin just before World War 1—in 1953. Carabin’s
photographs make a rare set that gives insight into the
use of photographs not only as models but as preliminary
sketches for other works. Most of the view were not taken
any further, but remained as projects or ideas.
Dominique de Font-RéaulxCARBON PRINTS
Carbon printing developed from the need for a per-
manent photographic positive process, and derived
from principles established by Gustav Suckow. In
1832, he noted that an alkaline chromate (potassium
dichromate) reacted with sunlight to harden organic
matter. Potassium dichromate is a bivalent chromium
compound, which is reduced by exposure to light to
a trivalent chromium compound. This in turn acts on
organic colloids, producing a kind of polymerisation. In
1839, Mungo Ponton identifi ed the photo-sensitivity of
potassium dichromate, and in 1840, Edmond Alexandre
Becquerel observed a greater photo-sensitivity when
paper was sized with plant starch. This work established
that an organic, water-soluble colloid (such as starch,
gum arabic, gelatin, or albumen), when sensitised with
potassium dichromate and exposed to actinic light,
becomes insoluble in water. The discovery was fi rst
applied to photomechanical printing, as William Henry
Fox Talbot’s photoglyphic engraving process (patented
1852) and Alphonse Poitevin’s photolithography pro-
cess (patented 1855). In 1855, Poitevin also patented a
direct pigment process using dichromated gelatin. By
1858, John Pouncy, J. C. Burnett, and Charles Cowper
had all produced modifi cations, and in 1859, Emma
Heineken achieved better tonal gradation by substitut-
ing fi ner pigments.
Poitevin’s process used a mixture of lamp black
pigment and gelatin coated onto paper (often called the
carbon ‘tissue’), and sensitised with potassium dichro-
mate. The unexposed gelatin dissolved in water, leaving
the hardened exposed areas as a pigmented gelatin layer
that could be dried in situ or transferred onto another
support surface.
In 1864, Joseph Wilson Swan patented a transfer
method of processing the carbon tissue, allowing the re-
moval of the top layer of hardened gelatin to give a fi ner
tonal gradation. Adolphe Fargier had already patented a
double-transfer process in 1860, but Swan attained his
patent, and by 1866 was offering carbon prints through
Mawson and Swan (see Mawson & Co.). Swan later sold
the rights to Adolphe Braun, Edgar Hanfstaengl (see
Franz Hanfstaengl), and T. and R. Annan (see Thomas
Annan), among others.
In 1878, a new carbon paper was produced by
Frédéric Artigue. As ‘Artigue papier velours,’ it had
limited use from 1884. It was modifi ed by Artigue’s son
and reintroduced in 1893 as ‘Charbon-Velours’ paper.
Artigue paper was sensitised, exposed, and developed
from the front surface, without the need for transfer onto
a secondary support paper. The ‘development’ was ef-
fected by sawdust suspended in water, which abraded the
pigmented gelatin coating, removing unexposed areas
and leaving a velvety matt surface. The same method of
development was later used for the Fresson process.
In 1868, Louis Ducos du Hauron patented a subtrac-
tive colour system from separation negatives, producing
three-colour photographs with superimposed layers of
pigmented gelatin. With the introduction of panchromat-
ic materials in 1906, carbon was adapted for trichrome
prints, and combined with Thomas Manly’s ozobrome
process as carbro, a dye imbibition process (1919).
Carbon was largely directed towards the commercial
market of art reproductions and professional portraits.
The main British supplier of materials and fi nished prints
was the Autotype Fine Art Company, which acquired
Swan’s patent rights in 1868. Other fi rms included John
Pouncy’s Dorchester establishment, Liesegang (see
Paul Eduard Liesegang), Goupil et Cie., the Woodbury
Permanent Photographic Printing Company (see Walter
Bentley Woodbury), the Scovill Manufacturing Com-