Louis Lafon
[Railroad Viaduct at La Fontaine-des-Eaux, Dinan]

ArtistFrench, active 1870s–1890s
CultureFrench
Titles
  • [Railroad Viaduct at La Fontaine-des-Eaux, Dinan]
Date1879–1880
Place depictedDinan, France
MediumAlbumen silver print from glass negative
DimensionsImage: 15 3/8 × 18 1/2 in. (39 × 47 cm)
Mount: 21 3/8 × 26 3/4 in. (54.3 × 68 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Robin Gibbs with love to his wife Lela at "One Great Night in November, 2016"
Object number2016.128
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

In
April 1858, the director of the French national civil engineering school
observed that photography “is by now employed on many worksites, not only to
record the details but even to see the state of progress of the construction.”
A photographic library was soon founded at the school, and photographic
instruction became an established part of the curriculum. Not surprisingly,
such photographs—depicting the height of industrial technology and produced by
photographers unencumbered by artistic conventions—now resonate as prescient
examples of a modern aesthetic. With its rushing perspective suggestive of the
speed with which trains would soon travel down these tracks, Louis Lafon’s
photograph of a newly constructed viaduct on the Western Railway line is a
striking emblem of modernity.




Provenance[unidentified dealer]; [Laurent Herschtritt, Six Fours Les Plages, France]; [Vintage Works, Ltd., Chalfont, Pennsylvania, 2007 or later]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in negative, recto, bottom right corner: L.LAFON
Inscribed in pencil, recto, bottom center: 210

Inscribed in pencil, verso, top right corner: 14537
Inscribed in pencil, verso, top right corner: 5 [circled]
Inscribed in pencil, verso right corner: 5 [circled]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Cour des Ateliers
Louis Lafon
1880s
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2016.283
[Cityscape, Building under Construction]
Louis Lafon
1880s
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2016.282
Consoles de chaque côté des œils - de - bœuf au-dessus des baies de la loggia.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.15
Chapiteau des colonnes et des pilastres de la salle.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.30
Chapiteau des colonnes des baies de la loggia. –  Façade principale.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.27
Cour des Ateliers: La Revue, Chalons-sur-Marne
Louis Lafon
c. 1880
Albumen silver print
2016.284
Chapiteau des pilastres intérieurs de la loggia.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.29
Masques des consoles. – Baies de la loggia (façade principale).
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.37
Chapiteau des colonnes supportant la 1re volée du grand escalier.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.26
Clefs des arcs dans la coupole du grand escalier.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.13
Masques des cheminées des bâtiments de l'administration.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.39
Couronnement des portes à l'extrémité des galeries latérales.
Louis-Émile Durandelle
1866–1875, printed 1875
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2015.267.10