The work of French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, best known for his black-and-white images of early aviation, motor racing, and fashionable society, is being reappraised in a new exhibition that highlights his pioneering use of colour. The show, 'Whoosh! Jacques Henri Lartigue's World of Colour', at the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, brings together over 200 colour photographs taken between 1912 and 1986, many never before exhibited.
Early experiments with autochrome
Lartigue began experimenting with colour as a teenager using the autochrome process, an early colour photography technique that used dyed potato starch grains. His first colour image, taken in 1912, shows his cousin in a garden. The exhibition traces his evolution from these early autochromes to later work with Kodachrome and other colour film stocks.
According to the museum's curator, 'Lartigue approached colour with the same sense of joy and spontaneity that defined his black-and-white work. He was not interested in technical perfection but in capturing the sensation of a moment.'
A vibrant palette of everyday life
The exhibition includes images of his family, friends, and travels, as well as scenes from the French Riviera and Paris. One striking series from the 1950s shows his wife, Florette, in a bright yellow dress against a blue sea. Another captures a group of children playing with a red ball in a sun-drenched park.
Lartigue's colour work remained largely unseen during his lifetime, as he considered it a private pursuit. It was only after his death in 1986 that his colour archives were discovered, revealing a body of work that challenges the perception of him as solely a monochrome photographer.
Influence and legacy
The exhibition also explores how Lartigue's colour photography influenced later generations. His use of bold, saturated colours and unconventional compositions prefigured the work of photographers like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore. 'Lartigue was a colourist before colour photography was taken seriously as an art form,' said the curator.
To mark the exhibition, a new book of Lartigue's colour photographs has been published by Thames & Hudson, featuring 150 images with essays by photography historians. The exhibition runs until 28 September 2026.
