Viaduc de la Voulte
1861 or after
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 25.4 x 42.5 cm (10 x 16 3/4 in.) Mount: 46 x 60.5 cm (18 1/8 x 23 13/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.364.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, as France underwent a railway boom symbolizing industrial progress, photographer Édouard Baldus captured the majestic Viaduc de la Voulte, a towering engineering feat spanning a river valley. Created in 1861 or later, this albumen silver print from a glass negative showcases Baldus's mastery in documenting architectural marvels. Measuring 25.4 x 42.5 cm on its mount, the image highlights the viaduct's graceful arches against the rugged landscape, emphasizing human ingenuity amid nature's drama. Baldus, a leading figure in French photography, employed the wet collodion...
About the Artist
Edouard Baldus · 1813–1889
Édouard-Denis Baldus (1813–1889), born in Grünebach, Prussia, moved to Paris in 1838 at age twenty-five to study painting outside the École des Beaux-Arts and atelier system. Trained initially as a painter, draughtsman, and lithographer, he exhibited at the Paris Salons from 1841 to 1851 without notable recognition. Around 1849, Baldus pivoted to photography, embracing William Henry Fox Talbot's p...