PHOTOGRAPH INHA

By Antonio De Robertis and Alan Zamboni

This photograph is kept in the archives of INHA (INSTITUT NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE DE L’ART) Paris.
(Fol phot 39 (1) no. 11 (acquired in 1958 from the Art Gallery FABIUS). Among the various
personalities present in this photo, one identified with the number 12 is without doubt that of
Vincent van Gogh.

This is possible concentrating on the following:

- Similarity to photographs of his brother, self portraits and those of other artists:
- An analysis of the photograph to determine where it was most probably taken:
- An analysis of the personalities in order to establish when it was taken:
- Close attention to no. 12 itself:
- Conclusion
Comparison with the photos of his brother
Observing the only two photos known to exist of the brothers, Vincent and Theo, taken at an early age, the
similarity is clearly evident and again between Vincent (no.12) in the above photograph and Theo when
adults is again clear .
Comparison with self-portraits
Self portraits of van Gogh often differ appreciably between them rendering it difficult to ascertain
they are all identical to no. 12 in the photograph, at best to a few of them. Several indeed show a
remarkable likeness.

Other artists have portrayed van Gogh, and in some cases correspond to no. 12. These are
Jeanne Donnadieu,1886

Toulouse Lautrc,1887

Paul Gauguin,1888
Analysis of the photograph

The photograph is only apparently that of a class of students of painting. It contains details which
are clearly different from those of similar group photographs of that period. Absence of a teacher,
almost a complete lack of ‘student hilarity’, they are dressed more elegantly than would be
normal. Thus this leads one to suppose that this group of 34 have met for a particular occasion on
that day.

That this is not a classical class photograph is, as we will see, also borne out by the fact that
several of those present were not attending the same art class, and at least one was not indeed a
painter.

Where was the photograph taken ?

On the reverse side of the photograph the following words are to be found: “Cormon & ses
élèves” written by the photographer himself. Following close research, it appears that this does
not refer to the CORMON Atelier but the Academie Julian. This thesis is confirmed by two
observations:

1 the environment where the photograph was taken is very similar to others of the Academie
Julian and in no way to that of the aforesaid Cormon Atelier.

2 the presence of a work on an easel (seen on the right) and signed by Jean de Francqueville, a
painter who had attended the Academie Julian. (This evidence has been given by Monsieur
Delatour,curator of INHA photographic dipartiment)

Walter Withers,academie Julian1888 David Chalfant,academie Julian 1889

Analysis of those present in the photograph.
Of the 34 young men present in the photograph some are clearly recognizable or ‘highly probable’:

No 3 Edward VUILLARD (Academie Julian, attended 1888)

No 8 Axeli Gallen KALLELA (Finnish, Academie Julian, attended 1888)
No 14 Pierre BONNARD (Academie Julian, attended 1888)
No 23 Andries BONGER (He is not a painter but a friend of the van Gogh brothers and brother-in-
law to Theo)
No 25 Walter WITHERS (Australian, arrived in Europe in 1887 attended the Academie Julian in
1888)
No 31 Ferdinand Hart NIBBRIG (Dutch, Academie Julian 1888)
No 16 John LONGSTAFF (Australian, arrived in Europe 1887, attended Acadamie Julian 1888)

Other probable personalities

No 6 Paul GAUGUIN (Not a member of the Academie Julian)

No 22 Arthur BRIET (Dutch, Academie Julian 1888)
No 20 William Dodge Mc KNIGHT (ex Cormon student)
No 34 Tudor S.G. TUCKER (Australian, attended Academie Julian 1888)
No 30 Emanuel Philips FOX (Australian, attended Academie Julian 1888)

An air of uncertainty surrounds one last list: probable identification is based on contemporary
photographs or portraits:
No 5 Paul SERUSIER (Academie Julian,”massier” 1888)

No 13 George LACOMBE (Academie Julian 1888)

No 33 Julian RABACHE (Ex Cormon student)

No 1 Harry BATES (Sculptor, resident in London and friend of RUSSELL)

No 15 Paul RANSON (Academie Julian 1888)

No 26 Ker Xavier ROUSSEL (Academie Julian 1888)

Dating the photograph

Edmond BENARD, photographer of Parisian ateliers 1880 – 1890

The presence in the photograph of Jean de FRANCQUEVILLE, who attended the Academie Julian
from 1883 – 1888 represents a first step towards dating when the photograph was taken. Taking
no 6 to be Paul GAUGUIN this restricts the date to between the end of 1887 and February 1888. If
the presence of John LONGSTAFF, Walter WITHERS and Arthur BRIET is also correct, based on their
biographies, the photograph would again be datable to February 1888. (BRIET and LONGSTAFF
reached the French capital in January 1888 and Withers left in April 1888)

In the first two weeks of February, both van GOGH and Paul GAUGUIN were present in Paris. All
those clearly identified and those ‘highly probably’ identified were also present in Paris in
February 1888.

Who is number 12 ?

Careful analysis of no 12 leads to the following observations:

-among all the photographs and paintings available of painters who attended the Academie Julian in the
years in and around 1888 no figure in any way similar to no 12 appears, neither in group photographs.

-no 12 is seen to be holding what appears very likely to be the sketchbook he always carried around with
him. it has a black cover

-an injury to his forehead is evident

Elements in support of the clear identification of no 12 being van Gogh.

- the presence of Andries BONGER, friend of the van Gogh brothers and THEO’S brother-in-law:
- the position of no 12: it is to be noted that people of the same nationality tend to stay close to
each other: in this case the Dutch. No 12 is in fact standing between them. This detail reveals how
many of those present did not know each other and were not therefore class companions:
- when in Paris van GOGH used to carry around with him a sketchbook of the same dimensions as
the one he (no 12) can be seen holding in his hand and in which he had sketched, LIVE, anatomic
parts on pages 46 – 55 dated Jan/Feb, 1888.

- a head injury: according to witnesses, (GAUGUIN and Andries BONGER) van GOGH was hit in the
face by a tankard of beer (witness GAUGUIN) and was similarly hit on the head by a still life picture
(witness BONGER) Both these events took place in Le TAMBURIN. The exact date is not certain,
but certainly after van Gogh had left Agostina SEGATORI and before leaving for Arles, in other
words, during his stay in Paris. These ‘skirmishes’ may have caused injury to Vincent.

The hypotesis

Particularities of this photograph which are, as yet, not fully explained.

Why did BENARD write “Cormon & ses élèves” on the back of the photograph ? Probably an error
or to indicate the presence of some CORMON students.

The absence of a teacher or model, male or female, the presence of people from different
backgrounds in the Academie Julian. All this would clearly suggest that this is not a photograph of
a class of painters but of a ‘get together’ for a completely different reason. Why should 34 men,
many of whom are unknown to each other, apart from one or two small groups, and coming from
different schools and countries, meet together in the Academie Julian ?
A ‘highly probable’, plausible answer lies in the marriage of John Peter RUSSELL.

On the 8th of February,1888, J.P. RUSSELL married Marianna MATTIOCCO, former model for the
English sculptor, Harry BATES: Many of those recognized in the photograph, clearly or with every
probability, knew RUSSELL (including, of course BATES) along with the witnesses: Julien RABACHE,
William Dodge Mc KNIGHT and the 4 Australian students – WITHERS, LONGSTAFF, FOX and
TUCKER.

A group photograph taken on the occasion of the marriage of a friend. AND, if number 21 was, in
fact, John Peter RUSSELL himself ?

March,2016
Translation by Godfrey Balchin