Willy Ronis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 August 1910 |
| Died | 12 September 2009 (aged 99) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | photography |
| Spouse | Marie-Anne Lansiaux (m. 1946–1991) |
| Awards | Venice Biennale (1957) Grand Prix des Arts et Lettres (1979) Prix Nadar (1979) |
Willy Ronis (French: [wili ʁɔnis]; 14 August 1910 – 12 September 2009[1]) was a French photographer. His best-known work shows life in post-war Paris and Provence.
Ronis was born in Paris; his father, Emmanuel Ronis,[2] was a Jewish refugee from Odessa, and his mother, Ida Gluckmann,[2] was a refugee from Lithuania, both escaped from the pogroms. His father opened a photography studio in Montmartre, and his mother gave piano lessons.[3] The boy's early interest was music and he hoped to become a composer. Ronis' passion for music has been observed in his photographs.[4]
Returning from compulsory military service in 1932, his violin studies were put on hold because his father's cancer required Ronis to take over the family portrait business. The work of photographers, Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams inspired Ronis to begin exploring photography.[5] His father died in 1936, whereupon Ronis sold the business and set up as a freelance photographer,[6] his first work being published in Regards.[7]
In 1937 he met David Seymour and Robert Capa, and did his first work for Plaisir de France; in 1938–39 he reported on a strike at Citroën and traveled in the Balkans.[7] With Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ronis belonged to Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires, and remained a man of the left.[4] In 1946 Ronis joined the photo agency Rapho, with Brassaï, Robert Doisneau and Ergy Landau,[5] and was instrumental in forming the professional association Le Groupe des XV, and later joined Les 30 x 40, Club Photographique de Paris. Ronis became the first French photographer to work for Life.[5]
Ronis' nudes and fashion work (for Vogue and Le Jardin des modes) show his appreciation for natural beauty;[4] meanwhile, he remained a principled news photographer, resigning from Rapho for a 25-year period when he objected to the hostile captioning by The New York Times to his photograph of a strike.[4]
Despite stiff competition from Robert Doisneau and others, the Oxford Companion to the Photograph terms Ronis "the photographer of Paris par excellence".[4]
Ronis began teaching in the 1950s, and taught at the School of Fine Arts in Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and Saint Charles, Marseilles.
In 1953, Edward Steichen included Ronis, Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Izis, and Brassaï in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art titled Five French Photographers.[7] In 1955, Ronis was included in The Family of Man exhibition. The Venice Biennale awarded him its Gold Medal in 1957.[7] Ronis began teaching in the 1950s, and taught at the School of Fine Arts in Avignon, Aix-en-Provence where he met Pierre-Jean Amar and Saint Charles, Marseilles. In 1979 he was awarded the Grand Prix des Arts et Lettres for Photography by the Minister for Culture.[7] Ronis won the Prix Nadar in 1981 for his photobook, Sur le fil du hasard.[7]
Ronis continued to live and work in Paris, although he stopped photography in 2001, since he required a cane to walk and could not move around with his camera. He also worked on books for the publisher Taschen.[5]
In 2005–2006 the Paris city hall held Willy Ronis in Paris, a retrospective exhibition of his work, that had more than 500,000 visitors.[8] There was also an exhibition at Rencontres d'Arles festival, Arles, France, in 2009.[9][10]
Ronis died at age 99, on 12 September 2009.[11][12][6][13]
In 2005–2006 the Paris city hall held a retrospective exhibition of his work, that had more than 500,000 visitors.[8]
Ronis' wife, the Communist militant painter Marie-Anne Lansiaux (1910–91),[4] was the subject of his well-known 1949 photograph, Nu provençal (Provençal nude). The photograph, taken in a house that Marie-Anne and he had just bought in Gordes,[14] showed Marie-Anne washing at a basin with a water pitcher on the floor and an open window through which the viewer can see a garden, this is noted for its ability to convey an easy feeling of Provençal life. The photograph was a "huge success";[4] Ronis would comment, "The destiny of this image, published constantly around the world, still astonishes me."[14] Ronis lived in Provence from the 1960s to the 1980s.[4]
Late in her life, Ronis photographed Marie-Anne suffering from Alzheimer's disease, sitting alone in a park surrounded by autumn trees.[11]
Since his death, Ronis' work has been exhibited worldwide, and his images are featured in the collections of major museums.
He bequeathed his photographic work to France through two donations (1983 and 1989) and a will.[15][16] Recognizing the potential use of his photographs, he appointed four executors in his will, who hold the moral rights to his work and are responsible for overseeing its use. Additionally, his grandson, Stéphane Kovalsky, inherited the reserved portion.[17]
At the completion of the succession settlement, the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie holds the entire body of his work: 82,000 negatives, 6,000 color slides, 18,000 prints, 6 albums containing 590 reference prints, 26 archival boxes, 720 library volumes, and 400 periodical volumes.[18]
Since 2015, a street in the 20th arrondissement of Paris has been named after him, called the "Belvédère Willy-Ronis".
