Denier, André (1820-92), Russian painter and photographer. He studied painting at St Petersburg's Academy of Arts, but opened a photographic studio on the Nevsky Prospect at about the time he graduated in 1851. It became a centre for discussions about the relationship between photography and art. Denier was an outstanding portraitist, and in 1865-6 embarked on an ambitious serial publication, An Album of Photographic Portraits of August Personages and Well-Known Individuals in Russia, that featured Russia's political and cultural elite. Many of his portraits were hand tinted. A keen innovator, Denier also developed a widely imitated method of printing from two negatives to create a distinctively soft effect.
— Robin Lenman
Bibliography
- Elliott, D. (ed.), Photography in Russia 1840-1940 (1992)
