- Mer Méditerranée–Cette–no. 18
- Mediterranean Sea, Sète
Sheet: 12 5/16 × 16 7/16 in. (31.3 × 41.7 cm)
Mount: 12 3/8 × 17 1/2 in. (31.5 × 44.5 cm)
Explore Further
The dramatic effects of sunlight, clouds, and water in Gustave Le Gray’s seascapes stunned his contemporaries and immediately brought him international recognition. At a time when photographic chemistry was not equally sensitive to all colors of the spectrum, most photographers found it impossible to achieve proper exposure of both landscape and sky in a single picture. Here, Le Gray solved this problem by printing two negatives on a single sheet of paper—one exposed for the sea, the other for the sky, perhaps made on separate occasions or even at different locations. Not only technical tours-de-force, such pictures were unprecedented in their poetic effect.
ProvenanceHarry Lunn Ltd., New York; Manfred Heiting from Mayer & Mayer, December 15, 1989.
Exhibition History"Passionate Vision: Celebrating the Life and Photographic Work of Beaumont Newhall," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Lower Brown Corridor and Coat Check Room Gallery, January 15-May 4, 2008.
“History of Photography I: Selections from the Museum's Collection,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1, 2014–February 22, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, recto, lower left corner of mount: 90:235
Inscribed in black ink, recto, center left side of mount: l'Escaut.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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