Oliver François Xavier Sarony
1 of 4 portraits of Oliver François Xavier Sarony
- Overview
- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Oliver François Xavier Sarony
by Oliver François Xavier Sarony
albumen print, late 1850s
6 1/8 in. x 4 7/8 in. (156 mm x 124 mm) oval
Purchased, 1995
Primary Collection
NPG P613
Sitterback to top
- Oliver François Xavier Sarony (1820-1879), Portrait photographer; brother of Napoleon Sarony. Sitter in 4 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 13 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Oliver François Xavier Sarony (1820-1879), Portrait photographer; brother of Napoleon Sarony. Artist or producer associated with 13 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Here his well-tailored coat and cap suggest the successful businessman rather than the working craftsman.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Rideal, Liz, Insights: Self-portraits, 2005, p. 94 Read entry
Born in Quebec, Sarony trained as a daguerrotypist in New York before travelling to Ireland and then England, where he set up his studio. A talented statesman, he encouraged his clients to buy hand-coloured enlargements of their portraits at 150 guineas apiece. Here his well-tailored coat and cap suggest the successful businessman rather than the working craftsman.
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 548
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- A Question of Identity: Self-Portrait Photographs 1850-2000 (20 September 2005 - 29 January 2006)
Events of 1857back to top
Current affairs
Palmerston passes the Matrimonial Causes Act in the face of parliamentary opposition. The act establishes divorce courts, although women, unlike men, are not allowed to sue for divorce on the grounds of adultery.The Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition is held, a follow-up to the Great Exhibition of 1851, although highlighting Britain's private art collections rather than industry and technology. More than 1.3 million people visit the event.
Art and science
Elizabeth Gaskell publishes The Life of Charlotte Brontë, a year after the author's death. The controversial biography consolidates the myth of the Brontë sisters as isolated geniuses living in remote Yorkshire.Illustrator George Scharf becomes the first Secretary of the National Portrait Gallery, overseeing the collection's growth and its several moves around London before a permanent home is established in 1896, the year after Scharf's death.
International
The Indian Revolt was a significant rebellion against the rule of the East Indian Company and a culmination of decades of discontent about British rule. After a year of horrific violence on both sides, the revolt was suppressed. It led to a more involved role by the British government in India, taking over responsibility from the East India Company.Comments back to top
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