Gabriel Loppé
La Tour Eiffel foudroyée

Public Domain

ExpandFavorite

Images(3)

Artist Gabriel Loppé(French, 1825–1913)French, 1825–1913

CultureFrench

Titles

La Tour Eiffel foudroyée
The Eiffel Tower Struck by Lightning

Date1902

Place depictedParis, France

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 6 15/16 × 4 15/16 in. (17.6 × 12.5 cm)
Sheet: 6 15/16 × 4 15/16 in. (17.6 × 12.5 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Anne H. Bushman

Object number2015.184

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionFrom the outset, the Eiffel Tower, constructed for the 1889 Universal Exposition, has been a favorite motif of photographers, painters, and graphic artists. Its towering presence gave a unique shape and instantly recognizable locator to broad views of the city, and its network of iron made an ideal subject for modernist photographers looking for abstraction in the real world. Gabriel Loppé’s photograph of the tower being struck by lightning remains among the most dramatic representations of the Eiffel Tower, which seems to absorb and radiate energy. Gustave Eiffel admired this view and wrote to Loppé requesting copies.
ProvenancePossibly [Galerie Texbraun, Paris]; [Francoise Sage, Paris]; [Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, November 2014; purchased by MFAH, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed: Paris 2 Juin 1902. 9 heures 20 du soir. 14 avenue du Trocadero.

Blind stamp on print bottom lower cener: G. Loppé

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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