Édouard Baldus

salt print from a waxed-paper negative, signed, titled 'Amiens,' and numbered 'No. 42' by the photographer in the negative, matted, 1855

The photographer to Léon Bourquelot

By descent to the Bourquelot family

Serge Clin, Versailles

Thackrey & Robertson, San Francisco

Acquired by the Quillan Company from the above, 1989

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Photographs of Édouard Baldus: Landscapes and Monuments of France, October - December 1994, and traveling to:

Montreal, Canadian Centre for Architecture, January - April 1995

Paris, Musée National des Monuments Français, May - August 1995

This print:

Jill Quasha, The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs (New York, 1991), pl. 28

Malcolm Daniel, The Photographs of Édouard Baldus (The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, 1994, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 31

Another print of this image:

Francis Dimond and Roger Taylor, Crown & Camera: The Royal Family and Photography, 1842-1910 (London, 1987), p. 123, #58

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 surpasses a rating of 10. The print has very intense brown/purple dark tones and is essentially in excellent condition. A one and ¾-inch tear in the lower right edge has been expertly repaired and retouched by conservator; a treatment report is available upon request. When the print is examined closely, a faint soft 2-inch crease can be seen in the lower left corner, as can a similar crease adjacent to the lower portion of right edge, and a minor soft diagonal crease in the upper right. None of these issues undermines the overwhelmingly fine appearance of this impressive print. Quillan Collection curator Jill Quasha's assessment of this print in "The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photography" (New York, 1991) is accurate: "a Baldus print of such richness and evenness of tone is rare. This print is apparently unfaded, and neither foxing nor any of the other flaws common to nineteenth century photographs is present. It persuades us in fact that it is near perfect and therefore allows us to imagine what it looked like to Baldus himself when he saw it, finished, for the first time."
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This remarkably well-preserved salt print was originally in the collection of Léon Bourquelot, an official in the Office of the Architect of the Louvre in the 1850s.  Baldus was commissioned by the Office to document the construction of the New Louvre, and Bourquelot was responsible for assembling the resultant photographs into presentation albums for Emperor Napoléon III.  During the time the two worked together, Bourquelot acquired for himself a large group of Baldus's photographs from a number of the photographer's series.  Bourquelot's collection, including the print offered here, was discovered by his descendants in the late 1980s (Daniel, p. 223).

Baldus photographed the massive gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens in 1855. The photograph offered here is of the cathedral's main portal, with its elaborately carved tympanum showing Christ in Majesty on Judgement Day.  As evidenced by the scaffolding to the left of the portal, Baldus took this image while the cathedral was undergoing restoration.

As of this writing, Baldus authority Malcolm Daniel locates two other prints of this image: one in the collection of the New York Public Library, and the other in an album presented to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, held in the Royal Collection, England.