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 signal distinctly 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.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Arles, Amphithéâtre," 1861-1863
Albumen print from a glass 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. This picture reminds us that Baldus, who began his career as a painter, became a master photographer accomplished at handling subtle perspective.
Édouard Baldus or Bisson Frères (French, 1813-1889 or Louis-Auguste & Auguste-Rosalie Bisson, 1814-1876 & 1826-1900)
Interior at Versailles, 1850s
Salt print from a glass negative, 42.4 x 29.0 cm
The main compositional element of Interior at Versailles, the receding barrel vaults of the ceiling, lead the eye straight into the image, down the long corridor to its end. The photographer seems to have favored this image so much, that despite the prominent and startling flaw in the negative, he printed it.
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 his paper negative beautifully renders the subtle effects of light and shadow.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"St Germain l"Auxerrois, Paris," 1870s
Heliogravure
30.0 x 43.2 cm
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.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Paysage a Thiers," 1854
Salt print from a paper negative
40.3 x 33.0 cm
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Marseille," circa 1861
Albumen print from a paper negative
27.5 x 42.5 cm
The port of Marseille was a crucial link in an interlocking transportation network; this picture highlights the city’s commercial importance. Contrasting bands of dark and light frame this image of rich, wide-ranging tones.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Flood, Brotteaux Quarter, Lyon, 1856
Salt print from a paper negative
33.6 x 44.5 cm
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Façade, Bibliothèque Impériale du Louvre, circa 1854
Salt print from a glass negative
44.5 x 34.3 cm
The commission to photograph the Louvre and its sculptural ornamentation was the largest and most lucrative Baldus had ever received and it constituted the most widely known aspect of his oeuvre. This façade, then recently restored by Félix Duban, chief architect of the Louvre during the Second Republic, is on the Quai facing the Seine. Exceeding its documentary value, Baldus exploits the medium’s ability to accurately record the most intricate details and spatial play of light and volume of the façade’s sculptural ornamentation.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Decorative element, Louvre, circa 1856
Albumen print from a glass negative
19.5 x 12.3 cm
Édouard Baldus received his largest commission by the French Ministry of State in 1855, when the Commission des Monuments Historiques asked him to document the construction of the New Louvre. This vast project, carried out between 1855 and 1857, encompassed more than 2,000 photographs documenting every piece of statuary and a sample of every pattern of decorative stonework. It eventually constituted the most widely known aspect of the artist's oeuvre.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen, 1858
Salt print from a glass negative
43.9 x 33.6 cm
By 1855, Baldus had become known as the leading architectural photographer in France. Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen, shows both his artistry and extraordinary attention to detail.
Édouard Baldus (French, 1813-1889)
"Château de Polignac," 1850s
Coated salt print from a paper negative
32.6 x 44.7 cm
Made before Baldus began working chiefly with glass negatives in the early 1860s, the cultivated landscape, “Château de Polignac,” belongs to a series of photographs he produced while traveling through Auvergne, in central France. Perhaps because of the dramatic physical character of the region, Baldus focused on the landscape itself and the multiple pathways leading up to the castle on the hill.