Jean Agélou

Jean Agélou was the largest producer of nude postcards during the period of 1908-1916. He left little of his personal history behind but a vast amount of nude works in the form of stereo views, postcards, and magazines.

In the a book, "Jean Agélou: De l'académisme à la photographie de charme" by Christian Bourdon and Jean Agélou, the grandson of George Agélou, GA. Bourdon, a collector of postcards, accumulates many images bearing the initials JA. Starting with very few clues, he was able to trace the birth of the photographer, the address of his business (which we only have seen on one JA cabinet card) and the registration of his business. He finds the grandson of George Agelou (GA), whose name is also Jean Agélou and, together, they write a compelling story, filling in some of the missing details of the two photographers' lives.

Images of nude women are as old as photography itself but the distribution of the nude image was very poor. Agélou started his business marketing stereo views but due to the obvious limitations, he needed another outlet. Postcards were just beginning to revolutionize the distribution of the photographic image, in particular, the nude, and timing couldn't have been better for Jean Agélou.

In 1908, Jean Agélou began producing magazines for artists called "L'Etude Académique". Billed as model references, the magazines were sold in newsstands in a sealed envelope complying with the law of 1899 and while artists benefited from the production of the magazine, Agélou's "real" business was dealing in mail order, fully nude, un-retouched postcards, which were discreetly delivered directly to the home.

Mail Order Advertisement

JA photographed women both dressed and undressed but he preferred a model that would eventually sit down and take off her clothes. Elaborate backdrops, including landscapes, a seaside bathhouse, boudoir, and exotic props were trademarks in his career. He marketed his work in many forms, including a series of erotic lingerie under the mark of GA or George Agelou.

L'Etude Académique

Agélou's magazines were more successful than he ever imagined with over 20,000 subscribers. With more work than one person could handle, he persuaded his brother George Agélou to join him in Paris, where the two continued in a very lucrative postcard business.

Jean Agélou was very well known during his life, to many consumers, artists, and other photographers who often purchased his images and marketed them under their own marks. With such a successful business by 1916, Jean was able to photograph other subjects including landscapes, however, records show he only participated in one exhibition entering a portrait, a landscape and a nude study.

At the height of their careers, Jean Agélou, age forty-three, and his brother George perished in an automobile accident. The man, whose personal life has been so dimly lit for nearly hundred years, has now been revealed and we have the wonderful images to prove it.