Gustave Le Gray

albumen print, the photographer's red facsimile signature stamp in the lower right corner of the image, mounted, the photographer's blindstamp, papermaker Ernest Binant's monogram blindstamp, and numbered' 17,768' in ink on the mount, circa 1859

Jean-Marc Delvaux, Paris, 1999-2000

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Gustave Le Gray, Photographe (1820-1884), March - June 2002

Sylvie Aubenas, Gustave Le Gray 1820-1884 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002), fig. 178, cat. 184 (this print)

Eugenia Parry Janis, The Photography of Gustave Le Gray (Chicago, 1987), pl. 32

Richard Pare, Photography and Architecture, 1839-1939 (Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1982), pl. 12

Simon Kelly and April M. Watson, Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet (Saint Louis Art Museum and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2013), pl. 9

Grading this albumen print on a scale of 1 to 10 – a 10 being a print that has rich, deep dark tones and highlights that retain all of their original detail – this print rates a very strong 10. There is no fading of the impressive, subtly modulated tones, which range from bright, creamy highlights to rich eggplant dark tones. The fascinating details of this image are rendered in crystalline detail: from the shadowy, moving vendors along the left, to the signs announcing 'Bateau a Vapeur, Paris et Londres' along the right, to the top of the Arc de Triomphe visible in the distance. In high raking light, the following are visible upon very close examination: occasional tiny deposits, likely original retouching that has darkened with age; a few superficial scuffs; and scattered, tiny faintly-darkened areas, likely foxing, in the sky portion of the image. The large mount is faintly age-darkened along the right edge, soiled from handling, and exhibits minor-to-moderate foxing. The photographer's oval blindstamp reads 'Photographie / Gustave Le Gray & C / Paris.' The Ernest Binant 'EB' blindstamp is in the upper right mount corner. The reverse of the mount is heavily soiled and age-darkened.
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