Halle aux Blés (Intérieur)
1865–1869
Medium
albumen print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 32.4 × 26.7 cm (12 3/4 × 10 1/2 in.) mount: 63 × 44.7 cm (24 13/16 × 17 5/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift from the collection of Jeffrey Hugh Newman
Accession Number
2022.171.2
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Step into the cavernous interior of Paris's Halle aux Blés, immortalized in this stunning albumen print by Charles Marville around 1865–1869. Titled *Halle aux BlésIntérieur)*—or "Grain Hall (Interior—the photograph captures thelassical grandeur of this bustling marketplace, with its soaring vaults, intricate ironwork, and vast expanse designed for storing and trading grain. Measuring 32.4 × 26.7 cm on a larger 63 × 44.7 cm mount, the image draws viewers into a moment of 19th-century urban life, now preserved at the National Gallery of Art through the gift of Jeffrey Hugh Newman. Marville, Pa...
About the Artist
Charles Marville · 1813–1879
**Charles Marville**, born Charles François Bossu on July 17, 1813, in Paris, adopted his professional pseudonym around 1832 to avoid the stigma of "bossu," meaning hunchback in French. Trained as a painter, engraver, and illustrator, he spent nearly two decades producing woodblock illustrations for books and magazines before embracing photography around 1850. His transition coincided with the med...