Jean Reutlinger

French photographer

Jean Reutlinger

Born|

John Léo Reutlinger

19 March 1891

Paris, French Third Republic

Died| 22 August 1914 (aged 23)

Lexy, French Third Republic

Resting place| Montparnasse Cemetery
Years active| 1910-1914
Partner| Germaine Schroeder (1910-1914)
Parents|

* Léopold-Émile Reutlinger (father)
* Jeanne Seure (mother)

Relatives| Émile Reutlinger (grandfather)
Cécile Sorel (aunt)
Charles Reutlinger (granduncle)
Awards| Médaille militaire

Jean Reutlinger (born John Léo Reutlinger, 19 March 1891 - 22 August 1914)[1] was a French photographer.

## Biography[edit]

Jean Reutlinger was born John Léo Reutlinger on 19 March 1891 in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, the first child to photographer Léopold-Émile Reutlinger and Jeanne Françoise Emma Seure (1871-1955).[2][3] Jean came from a successful German-Jewish family of photographers - his granduncle, Charles Reutlinger, immigrated from Karlsruhe to Paris in 1850 and founded the family's photography business, and his grandfather was the photographer Émile Reutlinger.[4][5][6] His father, Léopold-Émile, specialized in photographing stars of entertainment venues such as the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergère, and was a pioneer of erotic photography.[7][8] His maternal aunt was the theatre actress Cécile Sorel.[9][10] Jean had three younger siblings, sisters Yvonne (1896–1898) and Simone Hélène (1899–1967), and brother Jacques Roger (1901–1942).[11][12]

Reutlinger grew up in Paris and with his maternal grandparents who lived in Orry-la-Ville. He traveled to Baden-Baden in Germany several times to visit his paternal grandparents, and as a young adult he traveled to England and America.[13]

Reutlinger and Schroeder in 1913

From 1910 to 1914 he worked with his father at his studio on 21 Boulevard Montmartre.[14] He produced thousands of photographs in sepia and black and white, and experimented with autochrome, an early form of color photography.[15][16][17] His photography subjects included La Belle Otero,[18] Anna Held, Cléo de Mérode, Gabrielle Réjane,[19] Geneviève Lantelme,[20] Valentine de Saint-Point,[21] and his girlfriend, the bookbinder Germaine Schroeder. He often posed his models in a comedic, tragic, or classical style.[22]

Reutlinger, who was athletic and enjoyed sports, befriended and photographed the German athlete and sculptor Hanns Braun.[23] In Paris, Reutlinger frequented circles of writers who also practiced rhythmic gymnastics, similar to eurythmy.[24] He also photographed himself in various athletic positions, and worked as a fencer.[25] In 1912, he participated in the University of Paris' masters athletics.[26] Under various pseudonyms, one of them being Doriane G., an homage to Oscar Wilde, he wrote sports articles for La Vasque and L'Auto, amongst others. In addition to his sports articles, he also published poetry in La Vasque with Schroeder.[27]

The Reutlinger family grave at Montparnasse Cemetery

At the beginning of World War I, Reutlinger was drafted as a soldier. He asked Schroeder to visit his garrison in order to give her numerous personal documents "as if he had foreseen his death".[28] Reutlinger died in the Battle of the Ardennes on 22 August 1914, and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery alongside his sister Yvonne. His parents and two siblings were buried with them upon their deaths.[29][30][31][32] After his death, Schroeder looked after his estate.[33] Reutlinger's photographs are now preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

In 1917, the diplomat Pierre Combret de Lanux said of him in his book Young France and New America, "My friends Alain-Fournier, Baguenier-Désormeaux, Jean Reutlinger, Armand de Montoussém - and my countless brothers whose names I do not know - you were the best among us and now you leave a heavy task for us to perform. We shall miss you not with the heart only; we shall miss your energies and advice."[34] In 1922 Reutlinger was posthumously awarded the Médaille militaire and honored with the Mort pour la France.[35][36]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Archival Records - John Léo Dit Jean REUTLINGER - Military Record - Geneanet".
2. ^ "Archival Records - Emile Léopold REUTLINGER - Marriage Certificate - Geneanet".
3. ^ "Archival Records - John Léo Dit Jean REUTLINGER - Birth Certificate - Geneanet".
4. ^ "Charles Reutlinger - National Portrait Gallery".
5. ^ "Reutlinger - National Portrait Gallery".
6. ^ Tausk, Petr (1988). "A Short History of Press Photography".
7. ^ "Vintage Postcards". 12 January 2011.
8. ^ "Luminous-Lint - Photographer - Reutlinger". www.luminous-lint.com.
9. ^ "Boudoir Cards - Belle Epoque Postcards - Photographers - the Reutlingers".
10. ^ "A l'écart". 1980.
11. ^ "Jean Reutlinger (1891-1914)".
12. ^ Bourgeron: Les Reutlinger, S. 56.
13. ^ Bourgeron:Les Reutlinger, S.47
14. ^ Karl Baedeker: Paris and its Environs. Books on Demand, 2013, ISBN 978-3-956-56222-8, S. 42 ([1], p. 42, at Google Books).
15. ^ Reutlinger, Léopold Emile auf CPArama.com 2015 (Zugriff 25. April 2016).
16. ^ Bourgeron:Les Reutlinger, S.56
17. ^ Hudgins, Nicole (2 September 2020). The Gender of Photography: How Masculine and Feminine Values Shaped the History of Nineteenth-Century Photography. ISBN 9781000213164.
18. ^ "A grande cortesã | VEJA".
19. ^ "Theatre Magazine". 1913.
20. ^ "Des femmes puissantes".
21. ^ "«Valentine d'Arabie», la muse scandaleuse".
22. ^ Hudgins, Nicole (2 September 2020). The Gender of Photography: How Masculine and Feminine Values Shaped the History of Nineteenth-Century Photography. ISBN 9781000213164.
23. ^ Cooper, Emmanuel (2004). Male Bodies: A Photographic History of the Nude. ISBN 9783791330549.
24. ^ Bourgeron: Les Reutlinger, S. 49.
25. ^ Bourgeron: Les Reutlinger, S. 51.
26. ^ Bourgeron: Les Reutlinger, S. 52 f.
27. ^ John Léo (dit Jean) Reutlinger (1891-22 août 1914). Portrait de la poétesse Germaine Schroeder dans son appartement du 52, rue Madame. In: Bibliothèque nationale de France
28. ^ Bourgeron: Les Reutlinger, S. 55.
29. ^ Buelens, Geert (16 February 2016). Everything to Nothing: The Poetry of the Great War, Revolution and the Transformation of Europe. ISBN 9781784781507.
30. ^ Geert Buelens: Europas Dichter und der Erste Weltkrieg. Suhrkamp : Frankfurt 2014, ISBN 978-3-518-73707-1 ([2] at Google Books).
31. ^ "Archival Records - John Léo Dit Jean REUTLINGER - Military Record - Geneanet".
32. ^ Prouteau, Gilbert (1948). "Anthologie des textes sportifs de la littérature".
33. ^ Bourgeron:Les Reutlinger, S.56
34. ^ Lanux, Pierre Combret de (1917). "Young France and New America".
35. ^ Le Temps, 11. April 1922
36. ^ Finot, Jean (1920). "La Revue mondiale".

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* France
* BnF data
* United States

Artists|

* Musée d'Orsay
* Photographers' Identities
* RKD Artists