Temple of Medinet Habu in Thebes

Public Domain

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Artist Gustave Le Gray(French, 1820–1884)French, 1820–1884

CultureFrench

Titles

Temple of Medinet Habu in Thebes
Temple de Medinet-Abbou in Thiebes.

Date1867

Place depictedEgypt

MediumAlbumen silver print from paper negative

DimensionsImage: 12 1/2 × 16 3/16 in. (31.7 × 41.1 cm)
Sheet: 12 1/2 × 16 3/16 in. (31.7 × 41.1 cm)
Mount: 20 1/2 × 25 13/16 in. (52 × 65.6 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors

Object number2018.377

Current Location

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Gallery 208

On view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionLike many early photographers, Gustave Le Gray was trained as a painter. However, Le Gray enthusiastically adopted the medium of photography in the 1840s and distinguished himself through technical mastery of wax paper negatives, which allowed for faster exposure times and increased detail captured in the final photographic image. Le Gray photographed extensively both in his native country and while traveling abroad, and he spent the final decades of his life and career in Egypt. Le Gray’s attention to shadow and surface detail within his composition demonstrates both the fine quality of his prints and his painterly sensibility.
Provenance[Delon-Hoebanx, Paris, November 14, 2018, lot 44]; purchased by MFAH, 2018.
Published References Sylvie Aubenas, Gordon Baldwin, Anne Cartier Bresson, et al., "Gustave Le Gray: 1820-1884." Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Facsimile signature stamp in red on print, lower right corner.
Inscribed in pencil on mount, recto, lower right: Temple de Medinet-Abou a Thebes

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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