JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE

In 1963, at the age of 69, the painter Jacques Lartigue (1894-1986) became Jacques Henri Lartigue, photographer. His first photographic retrospective was presented in France in 1975. In 1979, he donated his 200,000 prints and negatives to France, many of which document more than 60 years of stays in Deauville, between 1906 and 1980.

He discovered Deauville as a child and returned there very frequently when he was old enough to drive. He then joined, with the cars that fascinated him, a few hours drive from Paris, a destination frequented by those he enjoyed meeting.

In the 20's, he earns his living with his paintings and strengthens his relationships with his clients whom he joins on their holiday resorts: Cannes, Megève, Aix les Bains, Royan, Biarritz, the Normandy coast, Le Touquet,...

To preserve the memory of his happy moments, he records this chronicle in souvenir albums that he illustrates with his photographs.

During these years, Lartigue photographed his lovers - his mad passion with Marthe Chenal in 1916 - his relatives; he travelled by car or by airplane, he followed the events of the Deauville summers, a film shoot, happy moments shared with his relatives and his artist friends: Sem, Van Dongen, ...until 1980, the year of his last stay as a faithful spectator of the American Film Festival.

The City of Deauville paid tribute to him in July and August 2009 with an exhibition