This exquisite early 20th-century hand‑tinted portrait postcard features the renowned Belgian‑born opera soprano Lucy Berthet (1866–1941), captured in profile by the eminent French studio Nadar. Gaspard‑Félix Tournachon, known as Nadar, was born 6 April 1820 and died 23 March 1910. His son, Paul Nadar (8 February 1856 – 1 September 1939), took over the studio. It’s believed this card is by Paul Nadar, as he is known to have photographed Lucy Berthet. Lucy trained at the Conservatoire de Paris , where she won the First Prize in opera singing in 1892. She debuted at the Paris Opera (Académie Nationale de Musique) in 1892 as Ophélie in Hamlet. She went on to perform major soprano roles: Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Gilda in Rigoletto, Elsa in Lohengrin, Ortlinde in a French version of Die Walküre, Marguerite in Faust, Thaïs in Thaïs, and more through 1899. She was renowned as a long‑standing pensionnaire (resident artist) of the Paris Opera during the 1890s. This postcard features Lucy Berthet in a lavish embroidered costume, hand‑tinted with pastel purples and soft yellows, wearing a velvet choker with a jewel‑inset cross and matching headscarf. The publisher of this postcard was G. Piprot. He operated a studio in Paris. This card is part of a series (N. 769 – Th. 70). This postcard is in very good condition. It offers a crisp vignette with rich coloring. It has minor age toning and mild edge wear. The card was mailed in 1907 from St‑Jean‑de‑Luz (Basses‑Pyrénées, France) to Madame Ch. Boulliez in Paris. The postcard has a 5c green French stamp and a brief message, “Souvenir affectueux (affectionate remembrance),” The postcard is signed by E. Coutan,”. This card is part of the Belle Époque tradition of theatrical portrait postcards by top photographers. Paul Nadar frequently captured prominent performers—including Lucy Berthet. (SOLD)
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This Cabinet Card presents a bit of a mystery. The photograph is by famed French photographer, P. Nadar of Paris. The subject of the photograph is a mystery. The reverse of the card has the name “Ilbert” written in two places. In addition the word “Chanteuse” also appears. Is she an opera singer? Is she a nightclub singer? The woman is very stylish and is wearing a fur and interesting hair clip. Hopefully, a viewer will leave a comment with some identifying information. ADDENDUM: This photograph entered into the cabinet card gallery in 2009. Since then there have been a number of cabinet card gallery visitors that have left comments concerning the identity of the subject of this image. There has been some disagreement, but at least two visitors have identified this performer as being Yvette Guilbert (1867-1944). To follow the discussion about identification, check out the comment section below. Now back to Mlle Guilbert. Born as Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, she began singing as a child but worked at a Paris department store model when she turned sixteen. She also took acting and voice lesson and in 1886 she began working as an actress. She debuted at the Variette Theatre in 1888. She was soon singing at a number of popular clubs before starring in Montmartre at the Moulin Rouge in 1890. Over time she began to sing a lot of monologue “patter songs”. Often the lyrics were risque, even raunchy. Her song frequently featured tragedy and poverty. Guilbert was audacious and audiences ate it up. She was celebrated in France, England and the United States. She was a favorite subject of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made many portraits and caricatures of Guilbert. Later in her career, she appeared in silent movies, talkies and made recordings. She also wrote books about the Belle Epoque. It is interesting to note that Nadar, the photographer of the mystery chanteuse also photographed Yvette Guilbert. A Nadar photograph of Mlle Guilbert is part of the collection at the National Library of France. A copy of that image can be found below.
This terrific theatrical cabinet card was photographed by famed French photographer P. Nadar. Mlle Tusini is seen with Lydia Borel in the production of La Chercheuse D’esprit. The play is a comic opera by Favart. The play premiered in 1864. The actresses are spectacularly dressed in this great image.
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