Napoléon Sarony (March 9, 1821 – November 9, 1896) was a Canadian-born American lithographer and photographer. He was a highly popular portrait photographer, best known for his portraits of the stars of late-19th-century American theater. His son, Otto Sarony, continued the family business as a theater and film star photographer.
Life
Sarony was born in 1821 in Quebec, then in the British colony of Lower Canada, and moved to New York City around 1833. He worked as an illustrator for Currier and Ives before joining with James Major and starting his own lithography business, Sarony & Major, in 1843. In 1845, James Major was replaced in Sarony & Major by Henry B. Major, and the firm continued operating under that name until 1853. From 1853 to 1857, the firm was known as Sarony and Company, and from 1857 to 1867, as Sarony, Major & Knapp. Sarony left the firm in 1858 and traveled abroad for the next eight years. During that time, he learned the photographic portrait business from his brother Oliver Sarony who operated a popular portrait studio in Scarborough, England. Sarony established his own first portrait studio at 66 New Street in Birmingham, England around 1865. In June 1866, he returned to New York City. His first U.S. photographic studio was located at 680 Broadway. In 1876, he moved his operations to what became his more famous studio building at 37 Union Square. Photographers would pay their famous subjects to sit for them, and then retain full rights to sell the pictures. Sarony reportedly paid the internationally famous stage actress Sarah Bernhardt $1,500 to pose for his camera, . In 1894, he published a portfolio of prints entitled "Sarony's Living Pictures".
Associations
Included among the thousands of people that came into Sarony's world were many distinguished people, such as American Civil War General William T. Sherman and literary figures Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Lew Wallace and Oscar Wilde. Sarony also took a photograph of the great American inventor Nikola Tesla that was later engraved by T. Johnson.
William T. Sherman
thumb|left|[[William T. Sherman (Sarony, 1888)]]
In 1888, Sarony photographed William T. Sherman, three years before he died in 1891. Sarony's photograph would be used as a model for the engraving of the first Sherman Postage stamp.
Samuel Clemens; the Lotos, Salmagundi and Tile Clubs
Sarony took numerous photographs of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).
Family
Sarony was married twice. His first wife, Ellen Major Sarony, died in 1858; his second wife, Louisa "Louie" Long Thomas Sarony (1838-1903), reportedly shared his tendency towards eccentricity and preference for outlandish dress.