William Henry Fox Talbot
Bush of Hydrangea in Flower

CultureBritish
Titles
  • Bush of Hydrangea in Flower
Date1843
MediumSalted paper print from paper negative
DimensionsImage: 6 1/8 × 7 13/16 in. (15.6 × 19.8 cm)
Sheet: 7 5/16 × 8 7/8 in. (18.5 × 22.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2004.692
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description


Unlike daguerreotypes, the rival process announced by the Victorian polymath William Henry Fox Talbot produced a paper negative that could be used to print multiple positive photographs, each with a soft, atmospheric character. Although lacking the absolute clarity of the daguerreotype, Talbot’s process led to nearly all subsequent photography until the digital age. Talbot was a serious botanist, but one senses here that within a few years of inventing paper-print photography, Talbot was not merely taking documentary images of the world but creating images with artistic intent.



ProvenanceEx-collection Lacock Abbey; [Robert Hershkowitz Ltd., Sussex, England]; purchased by Manfred Heiting, May 2, 1989; purchased by MFAH, 2004.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in black ink, verso, lower right corner: "LA210"
There is no evident signature.
Catalogue raisonnéSC165

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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William Henry Fox Talbot
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William Henry Fox Talbot
1845
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.689
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William Henry Fox Talbot
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Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.694
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Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.693
Nelson's Column under Construction, Trafalgar Square, London
William Henry Fox Talbot
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Salted paper print from paper negative
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William Henry Fox Talbot
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95.79
Summit of the Tower of Lacock Abbey, Taken from the Roof of the Building
William Henry Fox Talbot
October 14, 1840
Salted paper print from paper negative
2015.91
Bust of Patroclus
William Henry Fox Talbot
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Salted paper print from paper negative
2015.619
The Pencil of Nature
William Henry Fox Talbot
1844
Book of salted paper prints from paper negatives
2020.346.1-.11