Marie-Alexandre Alophe
French, 1811-1883
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Marie-Alexandre Alophe, also known under the pseudonym Adolphe Menut, was a French painter, lithographer, and photographer.
Adolphe Marie Alexandre Menut was born on June 7, 1811, in Paris.
He trained in the studios of painters Camille Roqueplan and Paul Delaroche at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His lithographs are characterized by a gentle sensuality that made him well accepted by the contemporary public. As a photographer, he distinguished himself mainly through genre scenes.
Trained in photography by Gustave Le Gray, he took over his studio on the Boulevard des Capucines after Le Gray's departure for the East in 1860, unlawfully appropriating his negatives and employing the staff Le Gray had trained. He sought to capitalize on Le Gray's fame, but was unable to make the business prosper, and after the war of 1870, it passed successively into the hands of Fontaine and Van Bosch.
Marie-Alexandre Alophe died on August 4, 1883, in Mehun-sur-Yèvre (Cher).
