Napoleon Sarony

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.

Related Topics:
1821 - 1896 - American - Lithographer - Photographer - 19th century - Theater

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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 starting his own lithography business. He switched to photography in the mid-1860s and established his own studio, 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.

Related Topics:
Quebec - New York City - Currier and Ives - Sarah Bernhardt - Today

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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, 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.

Related Topics:
Oscar Wilde - U.S. Supreme Court - Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony - Copyright - Appeal - Second Circuit Court of Appeals

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

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His brother, Oliver François Xavier Sarony, was also a portrait photographer.

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Sarony was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Related Topics:
Green-Wood Cemetery - Brooklyn

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