Eugène Atget's Lost Photographs of Paris

A folder of photographs in artist André Derain's former Paris home turned out to contain work by Eugène Atget. The collection was thought to be lost until surviving family members rediscovered it almost by chance. In Eugène Atget’s Lost Photographs of Paris, Christie’s tells the story behind that discovery.

You hear how Geneviève Taillade, Derain's niece, discovered the photographs without realizing who had taken them. Specialist Elodie Morel explains why Atget photographed the streets of Paris. His photographs of door handles, store windows, and other details were intended as an inventory of the city that artists could use for their paintings.

The video also shows how Atget's photographs appear in Derain's work. An engraving by Derain, for example, uses the same viewpoint as a photograph of the Pont Neuf. In just over three minutes, you see how documenting a city gives other artists material to work with, and how a rediscovered folder reveals that connection.