From 1947 to the end of the 1960s, Denise Colomb (1902-2004) produced a series of portraits of artists working in their studios. The starting point for this work was a portrait of Antonin Artaud upon his return from several years living at the Rodez asylum. She was introduced to Artaud and the art world by her two brothers, Pierre Loeb, director of the Galerie Pierre since 1924, and Edouard Loeb, who opened his own gallery in 1953. In her photographs, Colomb becomes her subject’s friend and accomplice. She captures the artists in their studios, some filled with bric-a-brac, others austere and uncluttered. She is wary of staging her photographs, seeking instead to capture the man in his working environment, where she often focuses on a characteristic object or attribute. “You have to forget everything, make yourself available, receptive, even empty,” she said of her artistic process. “Only then will your impressions be authentic.”
Read the full article on the French version of Le Journal.
