[Trees and Waterfalls]

Art Historical Context

**Trees and Waterfalls** by Charles Nègre, created between 1860 and 1865, captures the sublime beauty of nature through the lens of one of France's pioneering photographers. Nègre, originally trained as a painter in the Romantic tradition, transitioned to photography in the 1840s, becoming renowned for his poetic landscapes and architectural studies. This albumen silver print from a glass negative exemplifies the mid-19th-century shift toward photography as a fine art, blending technical precision with artistic vision. The medium—albumen prints—revolutionized photography with their warm tones, fine detail, and glossy surface, achieved by coating paper with egg whites mixed with silver salts. Glass negatives allowed Nègre to produce sharp, expansive images like this 13.3 x 10 cm view (on a 18.9 x 15.6 cm mount), evoking the grandeur of waterfalls amid dense trees. Part of the Romantic fascination with untamed wilderness, it reflects the era's growing appreciation for nature's power, influenced by movements like Barbizon realism. Acquired through the Gilman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005, this work highlights Nègre's mastery in transforming fleeting outdoor scenes into enduring prints, inviting visitors to ponder photography's role in preserving the ephemeral beauty of the natural world.

About the Artist

Charles Nègre · 1820–1880

Charles Nègre (1820–1880) was a French painter and photographer who became one of the most innovative practitioners of early photography. Born in Grasse in the south of France, he trained as a painter in Paris under Paul Delaroche, Michel Martin Drolling, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres at the École des Beaux-Arts. He initially took up the calotype and later the collodion process as aids to his ...