Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by the Impressionist artist Herbert Rose Barraud. It dates from 1886 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The image is a Victorian-era studio portrait showing actress Madge Robertson alongside her child.
About this work
Overview
The image is a Victorian-era studio portrait showing actress Madge Robertson alongside her child. Produced as a photographic print, it exemplifies the popular practice of creating small, collectible portraits for personal albums during the late 19th century.
Subject & Meaning
Madge Robertson, a noted stage performer of her time, is depicted in a domestic setting with her daughter, offering a glimpse of the personal side of a public figure. The composition balances the professional identity of the actress with maternal intimacy.
Technique & Style
The portrait is an albumen print made from a glass negative, typical of the period’s ‘carte de visite’ and later ‘cabinet card’ formats. The image was originally mounted on a stiff card bearing the photographer’s imprint, a standard method for distributing photographic portraits in the Victorian era.
History & Provenance
The photograph was part of a larger assemblage of cartes de visite and cabinet cards collected by Guy Tristram Little, a solicitor and avid collector of ephemera. Little removed the original card backs and mounted the images in albums before bequeathing the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Context
During the 1860s, cartes de visite became a social craze, with millions produced for exchange among friends and admirers. By the 1870s, larger cabinet cards supplanted them, reflecting evolving tastes in photographic presentation before postcards and modern studio portraits took precedence in the 1890s.
Artist & collection
Artist
Herbert Rose Barraud took black-and-white photos of theater actors in the late 1800s.
