Gustave LE GRAY (Paris, 1820 - Cairo, 1884) Boats Leaving the Port of Le Havre, 1856 / 1857 Period print on albumen paper from a collodion glass negative. Signature Gustave Le Gray on the proof by a stamp inked in red at the lower right corner. Part...

Gustave LE GRAY (Paris, 1820 - Cairo, 1884) Boats Leaving the Port of Le Havre, 1856 / 1857 Period print on albumen paper from a collodion glass negative. Signature Gustave Le Gray on the proof by a stamp inked in red at the lower right corner. Part of the dry stamp of the workshop at the bottom center of the period mounting stand. Format of the image: Height 30.6 Width 40.5 cm, Mounting: Height 42.5 Width 54 cm, Presented under conservation mat in the format: Height 50, Width 65 cm. Boats leaving the port of Le Havre, period proof on albumen paper by Gustave le Gray circa 1856-1857. Condition report : This photograph was miraculously saved by an enlightened amateur. The pitting that appears on the print, especially in the sky, is due to the acidity of the mounting cardboard. Some of them have been diminished thanks to a skilful restoration. Wetness on the mounting board has also been neutralized. Some period replicas, intended to mask the defects of the negative, appear in the sky and in the lower part of the image. They can be found in the other known prints of this photograph. Literature : - Gustave Le Gray, Paris, BNF, Gallimard, 2002 : ill. n°273 (cat.125) p. 237 (reproduction of the print from the Roger Thérond collection). Collective work under the direction of Sylvie Aubenas who writes about this photograph: It remains to underline the grace and majesty of these silhouettes of brigantines, in a backlight that evokes the effects previously cultivated by the painter Caspar David Friedrich, especially in his painting Les trois âges de l'homme. Page 365. - The lovely sea-view. A study of the marine photographs published by Gustave Le Gray 1856-1858 by Ken Jacobson, Petches bridge, 2001: pl.7 page 39. Reproduction of the print presented in 2000 by Bearne's -Devon-, title : "Napoleon III's leaving harbour". - Une passion française, photographs from the Roger Thérond collection, P. Apraxine, R. Thérond, catalogue by Anne de Mondenard, Filipacchi-MEP, 1999. Reproduction cat 151 page 206-207, title : "Fleet of Napoleon III, Cherbourg 1858". - The photography of Gustave Le Gray by Eugenia Parry Janis, The Art Institute of Chicago and The University of Chicago Press,1987 : pl.3 page 63, title : "Napoleon III's fleet leaving the Harbor, Le Havre, 1856/58". Reproduction of the print from the collection of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Bequest of Lyra Brown Nickerson, by Exchange. Bicentenary of the birth of Gustave Le Gray Born on August 30, 1820 in Villiers-le-Bel in the Val d'Oise near Paris, he died on July 29, 1884 in Cairo, Egypt. In homage to the greatest of French photographers, inventor, precursor, visionary, we celebrate the bicentenary of the Master's birth by presenting a new print of one of the icons of 19th century photography: Bateaux quittant le port du Havre,1856 /1857. 165 years after its creation, this masterpiece of photographic art, with its soft, rich and homogeneous tones due to the gold turn, exerts an irresistible fascination. The singular composition, the backlighting that draws the contours of the merchant ships and the silhouettes of the figures that crowd the jetty of Le Havre give it an atmosphere that is both mysterious and surprisingly contemporary. The white stripes, painted along the hulls simulating the location of fictitious cannons, are intended to keep pirates away by making them believe they are armed ships. This illusion will endure to this day, as can be seen in the titles referring to Napoleon III's fleet in the proofs kept in prestigious collections (see Literature below). A much sought-after photograph: Let us highlight the world record achieved in 2011 for a print of Boats leaving the port of Le Havre from the former collection of Charles Denis Labrousse (1828-1898), a ship's ensign during the Crimean War: - Vendôme, 18 June 2011, Rouillac auctioneers, Yves Di Maria expert (€917,000 or $1,311,000, including costs). - New York, February 17, 2016, Christie's ($965,000 or €867,000, expenses included). This same event will once again reach an important auction price without, however, equalling the previous world record. This once again confirms the exceptional appeal of this iconic photograph, of which only very few prints remain. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.