Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Souterrains de la Nerthe," circa 1861
Albumen print from a paper negative
33.5 x 43.7 cm
Here, Baldus presents an opposition between the immovable mountain, which seems to engulf the tunnel's entrance, and the black arch at the center of the picture. By highlighting the barrenness of the setting, the seeming impenetrability of the stone, and the limitless blackness within, Baldus suggests the scope of what was the most difficult engineering work on the Lyons-Marseilles line and the longest tunnel yet in France.- from Malcolm Daniel's The Photographs of Édouard Baldus (NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994), pp. 88-89. From the album Chemin de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
The Eagle's Beak, La Ciotat, circa 1860
Albumen print from a paper negative
33.3 x 42.0 cm
A majestic landscape made along the Côte d’Azur, The Eagle’s Beak, La Ciotat possesses a human scale, despite the grandeur of the scene. The skillful gradation of tone from Baldus's paper negative beautifully renders the subtle effects of light and shadow. This is one of three majestic landscapes along the Côte d'Azur from the album Chemin de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Decorative element, Louvre, circa 1856
Albumen print from a glass negative
19.5 x 12.3 cm
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Arles, Amphithéâtre," circa 1859
Albumen print from a paper negative
33.5 x 42.9 cm
The arches in the foreground direct our gaze to the angled view of receding arches and fragments of columns. The perspective and contrasting lights and shadows create a sense of the inner expanse of the Amphithéâtre. Baldus, who began his career as a painter, was accomplished at handling perspective. From the album Chemin de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Durance, Viaduc," 1855-1858
Albumen print from a paper negative
37.3 x 53.0 cm
A pioneering example of modern engineering built by Talabot and Borel in 1846-1849 to serve the Avignon-Marseilles rail line, the viaduct's low, sleek form and compound curves of its arches distinctly signal modern principles of aesthetics and are a striking example of the scale and clarity that characterize Baldus’s photographs of French engineering and architectural monuments. This is the right half of a panorama from the album Chemin de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Château de Polignac," 1850s
Coated salt print from a paper negative
32.6 x 44.7 cm
Baldus was known by 1855 as the leading architectural photographer in France. His compositions were so impressive for their clarity and scale that the government hired him to document historical monuments in Paris and the provinces. To celebrate the glory of Napoleon III and the Second Empire, he was commissioned to photograph the New Louvre under construction. The beautiful landscape Château de Polignac belongs to a series of photographs that Baldus made while traveling through Auvergne, in central France. Perhaps because of the dramatic physical character of that region, Baldus -- through a poetic filter that can seem unrelated to his architectural views -- focused on the land itself.
Édouard-Denis Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Paysage a Thiers", 1854
Salt print from a paper negative
40.3 x 33.0 cm, ruled in ink, mounted on 54.2 x 38.2 cm paper
Signed "E. Baldus.", titled "Paysage a Thiers." and numbered "No 55." in the negative. Titled "Paysage a Thiers" in ink on mount
Édouard-Denis Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Flood, Brotteaux Quarter, Lyon, 1856
Salt print from a paper negative
33.6 x 44.5 cm
Illegible inscription in ink on verso
Édouard-Denis Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen, 1858
Salt print from a glass negative
43.9 x 33.6 cm
Édouard-Denis Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Arles, St. Trophime, before 1862
Albumen print from a collodion negative
42.6 x 33.6 cm mounted on 60.0 x 45.5 cm paper
This photograph was made as part of Baldus' series, Chemin de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, an inspired body of architectural and landscape views along the railway line, begun in the 1850s. Baldus first photographed the Romanesque church of St. Trophime in 1851 during his Mission Héliographique, and returned to it frequently to photograph the exquisite sculpture on it's facade and in the cloisters.