La Reine Hortense - Yacht de l'empereur, Havre
1856
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 31.8 x 41.3 cm (12 1/2 x 16 1/4 in.) Mount: 53.1 x 66.3 cm (20 7/8 x 26 1/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.273
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1856, French photographer Gustave Le Gray capturedLa Reine Hortense - de l'empereur,re*, a stunning albumen silver print depicting imperial yacht of Napoleon III docked in the bustling harbor of Le Havre. Named after Hortense de Beauhais, mother of the emperor, the elegant vessel symbolized the grandeur of Second Empire France amid rapid maritime expansion. Le Gray, a pioneer of 19th-century photography, this everyday scene into a poetic study of light, water, and human ingenuity, reflecting the era's fascination with progress and the sea. Printed from a glass negative, this 31.8 x 41.3 cm...
About the Artist
Gustave Le Gray · 1820–1884
Gustave Le Gray, born on August 30, 1820, in Villiers-le-Bel near Paris to a prosperous merchant family, pursued his artistic ambitions against his parents' wishes for a legal career. As an only child, he trained as a painter in the studios of François-Édouard Picot and Paul Delaroche at the École des Beaux-Arts, exhibiting at the Paris Salons in 1848 and 1853. In 1844, he married Palmira Leonardi...