Beschreibung:

Gustave Le Gray1820 - 1884'La Vague Brisée, Mer Méditeranée No 15', (The Breaking Wave), 1857
albumen print, the photographer's red facsimile signature stamp (Aubenas 353) on the image, mounted, his blindstamp (Aubenas 358), a label, with title and 'No. 15' in letterpress (Aubenas 368), and numbered 'No. 11,706' in ink (Aubenas 367) on the mount, framed, 1857 image: 16 ½ by 12 ⅞ in. (41.8 by 32.6 cm.)frame: 33 by 25 ⅛ in. (83.8 by 63.8 cm.)Condition reportPlease note the colors and shades in the online catalogue illustration may vary depending on screen settings.
This print is in overall very good condition, with excellent details especially in the spray of water, the rocks and waves. General warm tones, slightly sepia in upper half, and more brown-purple in the lower half. Presence of small impressions, very light scuffing and scratching marks across the surface of the print, only visible in raking light. Some small retouching across print and on the comet in centre of print, restoration with India ink and original to the production of the print.
The support is in very good condition and has been recently restored and cleaned of its foxing marks; a few faint cleaned foxing are still visible near lower left edge. Upper left edge a little worn with a repaired small crease.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.ProvenanceCollection of Alan Francis Clutton-Brock LondonThence by descent through familyLiteratureEugenia Parry Janis, The Photographs of Gustave Le Gray (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1987), p. 71Ken Jacobson, The Lovely Sea-View: A Study of the Marine Photographs Published by Gustave Le Gray 1856-1858 (Petches Bridge: 2001), fig. 9Sylvie Aubenas et al., Gustave Le Gray 1820-1884 (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002), fig. 144 and cat. 131Edward Lucie-Smith, The Invented Eye: Masterpieces of Photography, 1839-1914 (New York, 1975), pl. 36Manfred Heiting, et al., At the Still Point: Photographs from the Manfred Heiting Collection, Volume I (Los Angeles and Amsterdam, 1995), p. 93Weston Naef, Photographers of Genius at the Getty (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004), pl. 15Catalogue notePerhaps Gustave Le Gray’s most celebrated image, La Vague Brisée is unique as the photographer’s only vertical seascape composition. Le Gray made this image and several other seascapes from Sète, a seaside port in the South of France, in April 1857, just two years after beginning his artistic exploration of the Normandy and Mediterranean coasts. The resulting work was immediately popular in England and France, and La Vague Brisée was one of only three images that Le Gray filed for copyright with the Ministry of the Interior.  As is often the case with these impressive photographs made from collodion-on-glass negatives, there is a dramatic contrast between light and dark, with a tempestuous dialogue between the expansive sky, the dramatic shoreline, and the sea. The sky, occupying nearly half of the composition, is rife with shadowy wisps of cloud, though not shrouded enough to obscure the sun, which reflects gently from the water in the center of the image. The frothy swells crashing energetically against the shoreline display exceptional intensity, standing starkly against the intricate detail of the craggy rocks in the foreground. Perhaps most remarkable of all is the clarity with which the central image of a sailboat is rendered - from the gradual sfumato of the sails as they take on a strong headwind, to the imposing lines of the mast and the gaff, completed by the barely-discernible flag that flies from the center. Not only did the large format and high level of detail of these albumen prints garner widespread attention, but the subject matter appealed to collectors of maritime paintings. Le Gray’s foray into the genre alludes to seventeenth-century Dutch paintings by the likes of Willem van de Velde the Elder, Albert Cuyp, and Jan van Goyen as well as late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century romantic and sublime canvases by Caspar David Friedrich Thomas Luny and J. M. W. Turner. In turn, Le Gray’s La Vague Brisée and other marine studies were the first photographic seascapes to garner critical acclaim. Examples of this image are in the following collections: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (originally in the collection of André Jammes); the Art Institute of Chicago; the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the George Eastman Museum, Rochester; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.