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Cloudy Sky - Mediterranean Sea

Photograph
1857 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This scene is identifiable as the Mediterranean coast with Mount Agde, in the south of France, visible in the distance. With the mountain as a reference point, it is possible to prove that Le Gray sometimes combined two separate negatives for sea and sky. Prints in other collections show that the same negative was used for the sea and mountain but was coupled with several different negatives for the cloud formations. Le Gray was secretive about his use of these ‘combination printing’ or montage techniques. In some circles, they were condemned as cheating and seen as an untruthful way of representing the world through the camera. For others, montage allowed the photographer to mediate raw nature, restructuring and modifying with discernment to create art.

Le Gray made a series of seascapes that was famous for capturing dramatic lighting and weather conditions. He used glass negatives that were the same size as his photographs (around 40 x 30 cm). He placed the negative directly on top of photographic paper and printed in sunlight. The prints were then toned in a solution of gold chloride in hydrochloric acid. This resulted in a rich, violet-purple colour and had the added benefit of stabilising the images to help them withstand fading over time.

Most of the V&A’s fine group of Le Gray seascapes came to the Museum in 1868 as part of the bequest of the millionaire art collector Chauncy Hare Townshend. He had kept them in portfolios along with his watercolours, etchings and engravings. They have therefore remained in excellent condition, preserved to museum standards almost since they were made.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCloudy Sky - Mediterranean Sea (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from collodion-on-glass negative
Brief description
19thC, Townshend Bequest, 1868; Le Gray, Gustave. Cloudy Sky - Mediterranean with Mount Agde, 1856-59
Physical description
Photographic seascape
Dimensions
  • Height: 30cm
  • Width: 41cm
Credit line
Bequeathed by Chauncey Hare Townshend
Subjects depicted
Summary
This scene is identifiable as the Mediterranean coast with Mount Agde, in the south of France, visible in the distance. With the mountain as a reference point, it is possible to prove that Le Gray sometimes combined two separate negatives for sea and sky. Prints in other collections show that the same negative was used for the sea and mountain but was coupled with several different negatives for the cloud formations. Le Gray was secretive about his use of these ‘combination printing’ or montage techniques. In some circles, they were condemned as cheating and seen as an untruthful way of representing the world through the camera. For others, montage allowed the photographer to mediate raw nature, restructuring and modifying with discernment to create art.

Le Gray made a series of seascapes that was famous for capturing dramatic lighting and weather conditions. He used glass negatives that were the same size as his photographs (around 40 x 30 cm). He placed the negative directly on top of photographic paper and printed in sunlight. The prints were then toned in a solution of gold chloride in hydrochloric acid. This resulted in a rich, violet-purple colour and had the added benefit of stabilising the images to help them withstand fading over time.

Most of the V&A’s fine group of Le Gray seascapes came to the Museum in 1868 as part of the bequest of the millionaire art collector Chauncy Hare Townshend. He had kept them in portfolios along with his watercolours, etchings and engravings. They have therefore remained in excellent condition, preserved to museum standards almost since they were made.
Bibliographic reference
p. 40 Carol Jacobi and Hope Kingsley ; with contributions by Elizabeth Jacklin.‎ Painting with light : art and photography from the Pre-Raphaelites to the modern ageLondon : Tate Publishing, 2016.‎ ISBN: 9781849764025
Collection
Accession number
68001

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Record createdFebruary 5, 2004
Record URL
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