FOR 3-28

HANS P. KRAUS L’ALBUM SINART

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NEW YORK CITY — The nudes of L’Album Simart may be the most famous anonymous Nineteenth Century photographs ever taken. Their story asks more questions than it answers, and the images themselves are stunningly modern. L’Album Simart, assembled 1856–1860, contains the work of an unidentified photographer attributed to the circle of French sculptor Pierre Charles Simart.

Hans P. Kraus Jr Fine Photographs will show 11 selected nudes and apple trees from L’Album Simart April 7–May 9. The salt prints from enlarged glass negatives are being exhibited for the first time in New York — with the exception of “Apple Tree,” which was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1981 and 1989. A fully illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition.

The enigmatic photographs from L’Album Simart have booth captivated and puzzled artists and scholars for decades, and although the mystery persists, so does their visual power. For almost a half a century, these photographs were coveted gems of the Andre Jammes collection. During that time they were widely exhibited, including at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1977–78, at the Musee d’Orsay, Paris, in 1989, and at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, 1997–98.

Their strangely modern sensibility, due in part to the visible swirling chemistry, anticipated, and may even have inspired, contemporary artists in their own work.

To modern eyes, these pictures might appear postmodern, with their visible references to the process of photography itself. Indeed, these process artifacts do serve as evidence of a purely photographic practice, one that the photographer struggled with, ultimately achieving stunning results.

Hans P. Kraus Jr is at 962 Park Avenue at 82nd Street. For information, 212-794-2064 or www.sunpictures.com.