Mer Méditerranée - Sète
1857
Medium
Albumen silver print from two glass negatives
Dimensions
Image: 32.1 x 41.9 cm (12 5/8 x 16 1/2 in.) Mount: 52.7 × 67.3 cm (20 3/4 × 26 1/2 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Robert Rosenkranz Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.48
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1857, French photographer Gustave Le Gray capturedMer Méditerranée - S*, a breathtaking albumen silver print depicting the vast Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Sète, France Le Gray, a pioneer of 19th-century photography and a key figure in the Romantic movement, masterfully rendered the interplay of turbulent waves and dramatic skies, evoking the sublime power of nature. This seascape, with its swirling clouds and endless horizon, reflects the era's fascination with light, atmosphere, and the sea's untamed beauty. Le Gray's technical innovation shines here: he created the image by print...
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...