With his camera, Lartigue doted on the somatic beauty of French summers—the sporting life, fast cars and the splash of swimmers at play. Strange, then, that the world has so long neglected his work in color. Perhaps it’s a remnant of midcentury photography’s black-and-white orthodoxy, which Lartigue merrily defied. Contemplating an orange in a letter to Anaïs Nin, for example, he once wrote, “It’s about showing that it shines in the sun […] that it’s not a dead object.” Lartigue: This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Four Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 44 Hannah Traore The art world's next big thing is a gallerist. Arts & Culture Issue 43 The Sellout On the moral maze of art and money. Arts & Culture Issue 42 Dream House The rise of renderporn. Arts & Culture Issue 40 Olalekan Jeyifous On fantastical architecture and sci-fi Brooklyn. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Liana Finck The wobbly-lined cartoonist with a razor-sharp vision. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Botched Beauty When fine art gets in a fix.
