*NAPOLEÓN SARONY* (USA, 1821-1896)

Napoleon Sarony (1821 – 1896) was an American lithographer and photographer. He was a highly popular and prolific portrait photographer, most known for his portraits of the stars of late 19th century American theater.

Sarony was born in Quebec in 1821 and moved to New York City around 1836. He worked as an illustrator for Currier and Ives before joining with James Major and starting his own lithography business, Sarony & Major, in 1843. In 1845, James Major was replaced by Henry B. Major in Sarony & Major and it continued operating under that name until 1853. From 1853 to 1857, the firm was known as Sarony and Company, and from 1857 to 1867, as Sarony, Major & Knapp. Sarony left the firm in 1867 and established a photography studio at 37 Union Square, during a time when celebrity portraiture was a popular fad. Photographers would pay their famous subjects to sit for them, and then retain full rights to sell the pictures. Sarony reportedly paid famed stage actress Sarah Bernhardt $1,500 to pose for his camera, the equivalent of more than $20,000 today[update].

One of Sarony's portraits of writer Oscar Wilde became the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case, Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony 111 U.S. 53(1884), in which the Court upheld the extension of copyright protection to photographs. Sarony sued Burrow-Giles after it used unauthorized lithographs of Oscar Wilde No. 18 in an advertisement, and won a judgment for $610 (the modern equivalent of just over $12,000) that was affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Sarony later photographed the Supreme Court itself, to celebrate the centennial of the federal judiciary in 1890.

Sarony was married twice. His first wife died in 1858; his second, Louie, reportedly shared his tendency towards eccentricity and preference for outlandish dress. She rented elaborate costumes that she wore during her daily afternoon walk through Washington Square, wearing them once before returning them.

His brother, Oliver François Xavier Sarony, was also a portrait photographer who died in 1879. Napoleon's son Otto (1859-1903) continued the family name for few years until his own early death in 1903.

Sarony was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.




.TRADUCCIÓN.

Napoleon Sarony (1821 - 9 de noviembre de 1896) fue un litógrafo y fotógrafo estadounidense dedicado a la fotografía de retrato a finales del siglo XIX.

Nació en Quebec pero su familia se trasladó a Nueva York siendo un adolescente. Su padre era litógrafo y él estuvo trabajando como ilustrador para la firma Currier & Ives, después se asoció con Henry B. Major y fundaron la firma Sarony & Mayor en 1846. Sin embargo en 1956 realizó un viaje a Inglaterra y aprendió fotografía de su hermano Oliver Sarony. A su regreso a Nueva York abrió su propio estudio y pronto sus retratos de estudio se hicieron populares.


Sus retratos los obtenía haciendo posar de una forma determinada a sus modelos, este hecho conllevó importantes críticas al considerarlos muy artificiosos, pero han pasado a la historia como un modo de teatralizar las «poses». Muy conocidos fueron los retratos que realizó a la atriz Sarah Bernhardt recostada y con la mano rozando el suelo y en otras posturas decididas previamente por Sarony, estos retratos de la actriz se han contrapuesto a los realizados por Nadar en los que la actriz aparece con gran naturalidad.

Uno de los retratos que realizó en 1882 a Oscar Wilde, el número 18, fue utilizado en un anuncio sin consentimiento de Sarony por lo que realizó la primera demanda sobre los derechos de autor sobre fotografías en Estados Unidos. La demanda conocida como el caso Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony llegó a la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos y contó con un fallo favorable a Sarony.

Fue enterrado en Brooklyn en el cementerio de Green-Wood.