Nam-Vian - Tombeaux
1866
Medium
Albumen silver prints from glass negatives
Dimensions
15.8 x 22 cm (6 1/4 x 8 11/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.501 (47)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1866, French photographer Émile Gsell captured *Nam-Vian - Tombeaux*, a striking albumen silver print from glass negatives measuring 15.8 x 22 cm. This image, part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, depicts Vietnamese tombs—likely from the Annam region (central Vietnam)—showcasing intricate architecture amid the lush tropical landscape. Gsell, one of the earliest photographers in French Indochina, documented colonial encounters with local culture during the mid-19th century, when France was expanding its influence in Southeast Asia following the conquest of Saigon in 186...
About the Artist
Emile Gsell · 1838–1879
Emile Gsell (1838–1879) was a French photographer who became one of the earliest Western photographers to document Southeast Asia, particularly the ancient temples of Angkor in Cambodia. Born in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace, France, Gsell traveled to Indochina in the 1860s, establishing a photographic studio in Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City) that became a base for his documentary expedi...