The Madame B Album c. 1870s

This page from "The Madame B Album" was crafted in the 19th century by Marie-Blanche Hennelle Fournier, using photographs, watercolor, and paper. Like many albums of its time, it combines commercially-made photographs with the hand-painted medium of watercolor. The contrasting textures and techniques speak volumes about the culture of collecting, memory-making, and the intersection of industrial and handmade aesthetics. In this example, we see portraits of well-to-do women in an intentional and artificial arrangement, that is meant to resemble a casual family album. The fuchsia watercolor further enhances the sense of preciousness, giving the album page the quality of a carefully cultivated garden. What makes this album significant is the labor that went into its creation. It reflects both the industrial labor of photography and the artistic labor of hand-painting and arrangement. These album pages invite us to consider the social rituals around memory, and the way they are shaped by class, industry, and artistic practice.