590
Louis Ghémar died in Brussels on 11 May 1873
and is buried in Laeken cemetery, in a mausoleum de-
signed by the French sculptor Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
(1824–1873). The inscription refers to Ghémar as an
“artiste dessinateur” [artist draughtsman] rather than
photographer. The studio continued trading as Ghémar
frères, much reduced in reputation and quality, until
1894, when its negatives were acquired by the neigh-
bouring fi rm of Géruzet frères.
There are substantial holdings of Ghémar’s work at
the Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles, Archives du Palais
du Roi, Brussels, Bibliothèque royale Albert Ier—Cabi-
net des estampes, Brussels, Provinciaal Museum voor
Fotografi e, Antwerp, and Musée de la photographie,
Charleroi. The recently restored mausoleum is acces-
sible to the public.
Steven F. Joseph
Biography
Louis Joseph Ghémar was born in Lannoy, northern
France, on 8 January 1819, the fi rst child of aspirational
parents. Ghémar moved to Brussels aged 17 in order to
train as a draughtsman. He initially came to prominence
as a caricaturist. Ghémar worked in Edinburgh from
1849 as a lithographer. On his return to Belgium in
1854, he opened a studio in Antwerp in partnership with
Robert Severin. The partners sold the studio in 1856 and
moved to Brussels. Using Ghémar’s contacts in artistic
circles and high society, Ghémar and Severin’s studio
enjoyed immediate success. Following dissolution of
this partnership by 1860, Ghémar formed a partnership
with his younger half-brother under the denomination
“Ghémar frères.” During his career as a photographer,
Ghémar maintained some output as an artist, and also
traded in paintings and objets d’art. Ghémar formed
a liaison with the younger Marie Catherine Jadoul
(1844–1882) who bore him four children between 1864
and 1871; they married on 15 July 1871. Ghémar died
on 11 May 1873 and is buried in Laeken cemetery.
See also: Nadar; Portraiture; and Lithography.
Further Reading
Abeels, Gustave, Les Pionniers de la photographie à Bruxelles
[The Pioneers of Photography in Brussels], Zaltbommel:
Bibliothèque Européenne, 1977.
Coppens, Jan, Laurent Roosens and Karel Van Deuren, “Door
de enkele werking van het licht”: introductie en integratie
van de fotografi e in België en Nederland [“By the sole ac-
tion of light”: Introduction and Integration of Photography in
Belgium and The Netherlands], Antwerp: Gemeentekrediet,
1989.
(Dewilde, Jan), Louis Ghémar 1819–1873: Photographe du Roi
[Louis Ghémar 1819–1873: Photographer to the King], Ypres:
Stedelijk Museum, 1992.
Dewilde, Jan, De Salon van Louis Ghémar: een fotoreportage
van de Algemene Tentoonstelling van Schone Kunsten te
Brussel in 1863 [Louis Ghémar’s Salon: a Photoreportage of
the General Fine Arts Exhibition in Brussels in 1863], Ypres:
Stedelijk Museum, 1996.
Joseph, Steven F., Tristan Schwilden and Marie-Christine Claes,
Directory of Photographers in Belgium 1839–1905, Antwerp
and Rotterdam: Uitgeverij C. de Vries-Brouwers, 1997.
Nadar, Quand j’étais photographe [When I was a Photogra-
pher], Paris: E. Flammarion, 1900 (reprint Paris: l’école des
lettres/Seuil, 1994).
Vandevelde, Wilfried, “Louis Ghémar, frères” [Louis Ghémar,
Brothers], Photohistorisch Tijdschrift, 9 (1986): 14–18.
Vercheval, Georges (ed.), Pour une histoire de la photographie
en Belgique [Contributions to a History of Photography in
Belgium], Charleroi: Musée de la Photographie, 1993.GIROUX, ANDRÉ (1801–1879)
André Giroux was born in Paris on April 30, 1801. Com-
ing from a middle-class family familiar with the artistic
medium, he was directed early on towards a career as
a painter. Studying initially with his father, he entered
the workshop of the neo-classic landscape designer
Thibault. He exhibited his fi rst paintings at the Salon
of 1819, then integrated two years later in 1821 into the
prestigious School of Art, Paris. Consequently, for him
the prospect opened for a traditional career devoted to
painting, which was crowned by the award of du Grand
Prix de Rome de Paysage historique in 1825. During his
stay in Rome, André Giroux met Camille Corot, Leon
Fleury, Edouard Bertin and even Theodore Caruelle
d’Aligny with whom he established a long friendship.
The emulation produced by these meetings strongly
infl uenced his practice and his renderings of Italy un-
doubtedly count among his most accomplished pictures.
On his return to Paris in 1830, Giroux continued his
painting career and continued to exhibit, every quarter,
at the Salon until 1846.
The fi rst traces of his photographic activity go back to
the early 1850s. Well-informed of his career as a painter,
we are missing documentation of the important years
that were devoted to photography. His father Alphonse
Giroux celebrated commercial art and had a shop with
his wife Zoé Colin on the 7 rue du Coq Saint-Honoré
in Paris, which had been open since 1799. In this shop,
which was to become famous, they sold objects of
curiosities, marquetry, and paper but also drawings,
pictures, and engravings. In 1834, on the fi rst fl oor of
the shop of his parents, André Giroux undertook with
his elder brother, Alphonse-Gustave, the marketing
of objects of curiosities and imagination. Four years
later, on May 19, 1938, the two brothers repurchased
with their parents the assets of Giroux et Cie of which
they became sole owner. Alphonse-Gustave headed the
commercial endeavors, while André simply played the
part of silent partner. The following year, in the weeks