Paper and Light r-.~heCalotype in Franceand GreatBritain, 183 9-18 7 0
The Museum of FineArts, Houston September24-November 21, 1982 Organized by the Museum of fine Arts , Houston, and the Art Institute of Chicago in cooperation with the Univer sity of Texas at Austin. The exhibition and its catalogue were made possible in part through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D .C., a federal agency . The exhibition will be shown at the Art Institute of Chicago from December 15, 1982, to February 13, 1983.
Designed by Michael Glass Design, Inc ., Chicago, Illinois
The information in this brochure was drawn from Paper and Light: The Calotype in France and Great Britain , 18 39-1870 (at press). All rights reserved . No portion of this brochure may be used without permission of the Pub lications Department , the Art Institute of Chicago. A 1'6'~ [982- '1 I L-. 7-
A Symposium on 17thCentury FrenchPainting
Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, c . 1640, oil on canvas,T he Art Institute of The Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, A. A. Munger.
H :E ;>;"' :E ::r P> !:!..::ro Friday, October 29, 1982 Friday, October 29 A Symposium on 17th Century French Painting Introduction The calotype was one of three photographic processes in vented almost simultaneously in the mid-183os by men working independently of one another-Louis Jacque s Mande Daguerre and Hippolyte Bayard in France, and William Henry Fox Talbot in England. Each process em ployed essentially the same techniques: A support (Da guerre's was a metal plate, Bayard 's and Talbot's a sheet of paper) was coated with light-sensitive chemicals and exposed until an image appeared, which image was made permanent by additional chemical compounds . Photographic imagery, whether by daguerreotype or calotype, confounded contemporary observers and critics who attempted to understand it in terms of aesthetic standards that had been established for the pictorial arts. The fact that a photograph was made by machine seemed to rule out the possibilities of artistic selectivity, inter pretation, or imaginative synthesis . Photographs were thought to be bound directly to reality, reporting every thing before the lens-even the most complex forms-with total objectivity and an exactitude far beyond the ability of the human hand. However, while they do indeed share this quality of impartiality, the daguerreotype and the calotype differ in significant respects. The daguerreotype is distinguished by a sharpness of delineation, whereby infinitely small detail is accurately recorded, and a tonal scale in gray that is so broad as to include the most subtle half-tones. Its silvery, mirror-like surface requires that it be held at a certain angle to the light for the image to be seen; for this reason, it is com monly presented in a small , dark case, against which the reflection is muted. The daguerreotype is a unique image and therefore can be reproduced only by photographfr1g the original. The calotype is characterized by a general softness of effect owing to the fibers of the paper negative, which break up line and obscure detail. Consequently, the calo type print possesses a much narrower tonal range than that of the daguerreotype , with far less representation of half-tones. Mas s, rather than line, and contrasts between light and shade are the essential features of the calotype. It generally has a matte surface, the image lying within the fibers of the paper, and comes in a variety of hues. The calotype's great advantage over the daguerreotype is that it is a print medium-any number of positives can be made from a negative. It is important at this point to define what we mean by "calotype." Deriving from th e Greek kalos, meaning "beautiful," and typos, "useful," the word was originally coined by Talbot to refer only to the nega- 1 tive print; however, by the late 1840s it was used to de less quality. Talbot's Haystack looks as though it might scribe all phases of his process. We have broadened the have stood forever under the bright light of an endless term somewhat to encompass any photographic process day. employing a paper negative . In the 1840s calotypes were made by a small group of At photography's inception, the art world was experi English and Scottish photographers, most of whom knew encing a period of unprecedented change and experimen Talbot personally . By the early 1850s, as a consequence of tation. While such institutions as the Royal Academy in French improvements to Talbot's original process, the England and the Academie des Beaux-Arts in France medium enjoyed a florescence in both France and Great strove to define certain immutable aesthetic standards Britain. Although it would be eclipsed in the mid-185os based on past art, many painters and sculptors sought to by the glass -negative process, made public in 1851, calo place their work at the service of society. Such artists as type photography continued to be practiced in to the 1860s. Jacques Louis David and Eugene Delacroix painted large Interestingly, the medium played no significant role in scale public-exhibition pictures representing current early American photog,raphy, remaining litt le known in events, and temporary exhibitions increased in both num this country until Alfred Stieglitz and other art photogra ber and significance throughout the century. As a result, phers at the turn of the 20th century rediscovered, exhib the audience for works of art expanded considerably be ited, and published the work of several pioneer calotypists . yond the upper classes. Concurrent with this sense of Because it was a print medium, the calotype was, more accountability to the public was a new emphasis, by art than any other early photographic process, the fountain ists and critics alike, on exact representation. To de ter head of modern photography. Yet, owing both to its pre mine the "correct" poses, costumes, and settings for their mature entrance into the mass market for images and to paintings, artists began not only to travel widely in the comparatively high cost of production of a calotype search of materials but also to consult graphic and photo book or album, the medium failed to take hold. The two graphic images. most important calotype printing establishments (see Tal The movement to make art both accurate and accessible bot and Marville / Blanquart-Evrard, below) closed, bank to a mass audience had its logical counterpart in print rupt, after short but brilliant periods of production; and making, which advanced rapidly with the rise of commer few photographers continued to work with paper nega cial lithography . Lithography was invented at the end of tives in the 1860s. It must be remembered, however, that the 18th century, just on the heels of the revolutions in calotype photography was as much a medium as any of America and°France. The first graphic art capable of rapid the other graphic arts. The early photographic processes and infinite duplication, it was, by the 1820s, the medium with which it shared the limelight were, of course, subject most used to relay visual information. Within a few years, to modifications and improvements, but at a much slower as a result of its enormous success, promoters of mezzo rate and to a far lesser degree . For instance, a daguerreo tints and wood engravings began to vie for the lucrative type produced in France in the early 1840s looks very little market in the mass production of prints. By 1844, when different from one made in America more than 30 years Talbot's Pencil of Nature (the world's first major photo later, whereas calotypes exhibit an astonishing diversity ·. graphically illustrated book; see Talbot, below) appeared, The sharply detailed, glossy photographs made in the early the arena of commercial printmaking was crowded and 1850s by Charles Clifford contrast so dramatically with highly competitive. the diffusely lit, softly defined images produced by Talbot Calotypes were reproduced in quantity, sold both sin in the early 1840s that one is almost tempted to deny that gly and in sets, and bound into books. Like other graphic they are products of the same medium. Yet, it must be re images of the period, they recorded buildings, construction membered that other graphic mediums in the 19th century projects, machines, landscapes, botanical studies, people, were praised more for their versatility than for their uni art works and historic records, and, on occasion, genre form qualities. scenes. Unlike that of the handmade lithograph or mezzo Surprisingly, considering its unique contribution, tint, however, the visual realm of the mechanically pro the calotype as an international phenomenon has rarely duced calotype was static . The lengthy exposure time received exclusive attention in exhibition form . Major necessary to obtain an image prevented the capturing of exhibitions have been devoted either to 19th-century pho objects in motion; thus, calotypes seem to possess a time- tography as a whole or to French calotypy. The Biblio - 2 theque Nationale's "A l'Origine de la photographie: Le that university's Photography Collection at the Humani Calotype au passe et au present" (1979) focu sed on the ties Research Center , and of the Museum of Fine Arts, calotype in France and provided the opportunity for Ber Houston. The subsequent involvement of the Art Institute nard Marbot and his colleagues to make new calotype of Chicago increased the scope of the project . The names images , using the techniques reported in the 19th-century of the many individuals who made this exhibition possi manuals and journals. We are deeply indebted to this ex ble are listed in the forthcoming catalogue; we are grateful hibition for the valuable research it occasioned. Two other to each of them for their enthusiasm and dedication. projects of particular relevance to "Paper and Light" are The calotypes in this exhibition are culled from public now in their final stages.Janet Buerger has catalogued the and private collections in France, England, Canada, and superb collection of French calotypes at the George East the United States. Most have never been shown in the man Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York, and 20th century, and several of the rarest are being loaned by has mounted an exhibition in conjunction with her project. collectors who have never before participated in an exhibi Eugenia Parry Janis and Andre J ammes have completed tion of any kind . The majority of works come from two the mammoth task, undertaken several years ago, of com of the greatest groups of photographs formed in the 1950s piling all known information about French calotype pho -that of Andre and Marie-Therese J ammes, in Paris, and tographers and the aesthetic system in which they worked. that of Helmut Gernsheim, which is now owned by the Their book, to be published by Princeton University Press, Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at will be coordinated with an exhibition of French calotypes Austin. The other images are drawn from the Science from Mr. Jammes's collection . Museum, London; the Canadian Architecture Centre, Ot "Paper and Light" is the first exhibition in the 20th tawa; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and from century to present a significant number of calotypes of the the private collections of David Mancini, Yvonne Coty, highest quality from both Great Britain and France. Our and Robert Hershkowitz. We are indebted to all the lend aim in juxtaposing the masterful images of French calo ers for their cooperation and generosity. typists with works of their British predecessors and con temporaries is threefold: to underline the fact that the French calotype owes its existence to British experiments Anne W. Tucker with the medium; to demonstrate that the British often Curator of Photography managed, without the official patronage enjoyed by French The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston photographers, to produce works on a par with their col Richard R. Brettell leagues across the Channel; and, finally, to make clear that Curator of European Painting and Sculpture there was an active and productive interchange between The Art Institute of Chicago the French and the British. The immediate problem for any exhibition that seeks to define a complex subject is one of selection . Our deci sion to omit works by German, Italian, Spanish, Portu guese, and American calotypists is based on our awareness that those photographers, no matter how accomplished, were dependent on England and France both for materials and for aesthetic impetus. We have chosen to concentrate attention on a small group of photographers because their works are both well documented and present in quantity in accessible collections, they are of a consistently high level of quality, and they embody the aspirations of lesser known photographers of the period, a few of whose im ages are also included. "Paper and Light" is the result of the collaborative ef forts of students and faculty in the art history program of the University of Texas at Austin, as well as the staffs of 3 The Calotype Technique The Materi als The Process The materials used to produce a calotype photograph con A calotype is actually the product of not one but two dis sist, on the one hand, of a paper support and, on the other, tinct processes-the making of the negative and the mak of various chemicals that, when applied to the paper, de ing of the positive-occu rring at different times and having termine the look of the print. different aims. Of the three methods by wh ich negatives The photochemistry of the medium may be divided were made, two depended on the use of waxes - most often into two basic par ts: 1) sensitizing , or "exciting," of the beeswax - to render the paper more translucent. In the first paper and 2) fixing of the image at a point in its exposure, method, the negative wa s exposed on sensitized paper, or "development ." Neither process was, for the early calo which was then fixed and printed unwaxed; in the second, typist, chemically simple: Light affected the compounds the negative was exposed, fixed, and then waxed; in the in various ways, and even once fixed, the image was sub third, the negative was waxed and sensitized before it was ject to destruction through residues of chemical impuri exposed (or, alternative ly, the photographer could pur ties. Basically , the paper was first coated with a salt (Talbot chase commercially prewaxed paper). In addition to wax preferred common table salt) and then sensitized by the ing, certain photographers added albumen and various addition of silver nitrate, sometimes in conjunction with other organic compounds to their negatives before expo part icular acids. After being exposed to light, the paper sure in order to heighten their sensitivity to light . Owing was then fixed, which prevented further action of light on to all these variables , calotype negatives are widely di the chemicals and thus the disappearance of the image . verse in color, density, clarity, and transparency . Silver nitrate, silver chloride, iodine compounds, so The calotype positive exhibits even greater variety than dium chloride , gold chloride , acids, hyposulphite of soda the negative. One can find clearly articulated surfaces all of these chemicals were found together with natural with high levels of detail, as well as diffusely printed im ingredients (milk sugars , honey, waxes , albumen, and ages that seem imbedded in the texture of the paper . These whey) that rendered the fixing agents more sensitive and images occur in almost every conceivable color, depending added luster to the negative or positive. However, vari upon the kind of paper used, the length of action time in ances in their degree of purity , together with those in tem the fixing solution, and the nature of the surface additive perature, humidity, and other atmospheric conditions, (wax, varnish, or albumen) . made the maintenance of a consistently stable environ There were two basic ways in which to make calotype ment for the printing of calotypes impossible. prints. The oldest method, developed by Talbot and fol The papers used for photographic purposes were ordi lowed consistently in the early 1840s, was the "printing nary writing papers composed of vegetable fibers-hemp, out" of the positive by placing a negative on a sensitized flax, cotton , or any combination of the three-which were sheet that was then put in the sun for the necessary boiled in an alkaline solution, bleached by chlorine, and period . The second process, developed in the mid-184os, ground coarse or fine depending on the surface texture de and perfected by Blanquart-Evrard, was a chemical sired. When dry, the sheets of paper were sized with an developing-out of the image, which required a shorter ex organ ic binder. That done, they could then be given vari posure time than Talbot's . The image remained invisible ous degrees of sheen by calendaring-pressing or rolling until it was developed, whereas in Talbot's printing-out the pap ers between polished copper or zinc plates. method it was always visible, enabling the photographer There were major differences between English and to stop the exposure process at any desired point. French papers , primary among which was the type of siz All of these methods of controlling the quality of the ing chosen to render the paper's surface less absorbent of negative and the positive, involving choices of various ma the sensitizing solutions. In England the organic binder terials (papers, chemical compounds, developing agents) was gelatine; in France , starch. English papers tended to and procedures (developing - or printing-out, length of ex be even and smooth and possessed a durability that en posure time, number and length of acid baths after devel abled them to withstand long acid baths . French papers oping), gave the calotype medium an extraordinary were not as smooth in texture but were thinner and lighter elasticity . than English papers and absorbed more of the light sensitive chemicals, thereby allowing for shorter expo sure times. 4 William Henry Fox Talbot English (1800-1877) William Henry Fox Talbot, inventor of the calotype pro reproductions of works of art. That he was acutely sensi cess, was accomplished in a variety of fields-botany , tive to the individual nature of works of art is apparent in chemistry, philology, classical history, and mathematics, this negative of the famous classical group Laocoon , which in addition to photography. Talbot began his experiments acknowledges the sculpture's frontal quality, and in his with photosensitive compounds in the early 1830s and views of sculpture meant to be seen in the round, such as achieved his first permanent photographic image in Au the bust of Patroclus. It is interesting, considering Talbot's gust 1835 . However, it was not until the invention of the fascination with accurate representation, that he often daguerreotype was announced in January 1839 that he chose to photograph reproductions of works of art, such was prompted to publish his discovery of a photographic as this plaster reduction of the Laocoon , rather than the system , one he continually altered and improved upon originals. throughout the 1840s. Because he feared exploitation of With very few exceptions, the calotype negative is the his process, Talbot secured several patents, controlling the same size as the contact print produced from it; hence , it destiny of the calotype in England until, in 1852 , he was is often a commanding image in itself . Further, as it is persuaded to relax all but one for commercial portraiture. less fragile than a glass negative , more visually interest With the help of his Dutch assistant, Nicolaas Henneman, ing than an etched or engraved copper plate, and less Talbot standardized his process and founded a photo cumbersome than an inked lithographic stone, it has an graphic printing establishment at Reading. This company exhibitable quality apart from that of the print-a circum issued thousands of single prints, as well as series of books stance that is virtually unique in the graphic and photo and albums illustrated with photographs, includin g Tal graphic arts . Negatives were in fact exhibited during the bot's own Pencil of Nature (issued in six parts between time the calotype was most popular, and it was not un 1844 and 1845) and Sun Pictures of Scotland (1845) . common for 19th-century critics to commend certain of Talbot's enormous photographic oeuvre consists of these negatives while at the same time deploring the portraits, still lifes, landscapes, genre studies, subjects as prints derived from them! disparate as shelves of books and fields of tall grass, and Laocoon, 1840 ? Waxed-paper negative; 17 .8 x 21.2 cm Paris, Andre and Marie-Therese Jammes 5 Attributed to Calvert Jones English (c. 1804-1877) Reverend Calvert Jones, Reverend George Bridges, Christopher Talbot , and John Dillwyn Lewellyn were among the friends, relatives , and amateur photographers who learned the calotype process from either Talbot him self or Henneman. The works of this circle of photogra phers possess a remarkable technical uniformity. Their calotypes tend to be small in size, grainy in texture, and exhibit a range of hues from yellow brown to deep purple . Shortly after Talbot went to Scotland to make a series of topographical views , Jon es, Bridges, and Christopher Talbot (the inventor's cousin) made a pioneering trip to photographically record the landscapes and monuments of the Mediterranean world . Taking one of the routes pre scribed by the Grand Tour (a tradition of Continental travel the English had followed in great numbers since the 17th century), they traveled to Pompeii, Naples, and Rome, as well as to Malta, where they took thousands of negatives, such as the one from which this print of the Colosseum, Rome was made. Many of them were printed Colosseum, Rome , 1846 by Henneman and today may be found in the Science Deep reddish-brown salted-pap~r print; 19.8 x 25 cm Museum, London. Paris, Andre and Marie-Therese J ammes 6 David Octavius Hill Robert Adamson Scottish (1802-1870) Scottish (1821-1848) In the first half of the 1840s other pioneers of the calotype medium would work with increased understanding and appreciation of the aesthetic dimension of Talbot 's pro cess. Scotland was an important center for calotype production, not only because Talbot communicated his discoveries to a number of friends in Edinburgh, but also because his patents were enforceable only in England, thereby leaving Scottish photographers freer than their English colleagues to experiment with the medium . In the fruitful collaboration of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, the calotype was used with great expressive power both as an artist's medium and as a de scriptive tool that brought new significance to images of ordinary life. In 1843 Hill, an Edinburgh painter , enlisted the aid of Adamson, a young engineer who had been working with Talbot' s process since 1841 (this exhibition includes two landscapes made by Adamson on his own), in document ing 450 likenesses for an ambitious painted group por trait. This project was so successful that they established a studio at Calton Stairs, where they produced not only portraits but also landscapes, architectural views, and genre scenes. It is generally known that the artistic direction of their operation was managed by Hill; the effectiveness of the poses and compositions reveals a familiarity with tradi tions of portrait and genre painting and a sensitivity to aesthetic consider ations of lighting and framing . Adam son was the technician ; he made the exposures and printed Dr. George Bell, 1843/ 47 the positives, often experimenting with chemistry to Purplish-brown salted-paper print; image 12.8 x 14.6 cm, achieve a variety of rich tones. Such were his skill and mount 33.3 x 24 cm care that even today his photographs are in superb condi Photography Collection, Humanities Research Center, tion. Although their partnership was cut short by Adam University of Te xas at Austin son's early death in 1848 at the age of 27, they produced an impressively large body of work-1,500 photographs. This exhibition demonstrates the broad range of their in terests ; included are a few of their masterful images of the Greyfriars Cemetery in Edinburgh, which inspired a fa mous series (also represented in this exhibition) of the same subject by the younger Scottish photographer Dr. Thomas Keith. Hill and Adamson's achievements as por trait photographers have been widely and justifiably rec ognized . In this arresting portrait, Dr. George Bell is seated near a writing desk, a traditional portrait device ; and yet, the dynamic, asymmetrical placement of the fig ure and the emphasis on his profile indicate a strong and animated personality. Working within a conventional framework, Hill and Adamson were able to achieve re markable expression and artistry. 7 Charles Marville Louis Desire Blanquart-Evrard French (1816-1878/79), photographer French (1802-1872), printer In the early and middle 1840s the calotype was practiced exclusively in Great Britain, but , by the end of the decade, improvements to the medium made by two Frenchmen, Louis Desire Blanquart-Evrard and Gustave le Gray, in augurated a period of calotype photography in France and gave renewed impetus to the medium in England. Like many calotypes in this exhibition, this superb print of the Salle des Cariatides was made not by its photographer, Charles Marville, but by the great photographic printer Blanquart-Evrard. To understand the nature of Blanquart Evrard's advances, one must keep in mind that the need felt in the mid-184os was not for more aesthetically pleasing photographic imagery but for a convenient, cheap, and practical photographic system . The calotype was regarded as an interesting but untrustworthy medium for two reasons: First, the amount of sunlight on any given day dictated when and in what quantities photogra phers could make prints; and, second, because the chem istry of printing-out negatives and positives was still experimental, calotype prints often varied in quality and they faded . Blanquart-Evrard invented a method for printing negatives chemically, which enabled him to make uniform prints throughout the year. For the first time, the medium was capable of standardization and industrial ization . His other great contribution was the creation of a new range of hues that included warm and cool grays analogous to those of lithographs and mezzotints, thereby establishing a look for the calotype which was more eas Salle des Cariatides au Musee du Louvre, 18 50/ 51 ily appreciated by a public accustomed to traditional print Rich brown-gray salted-paper print; 15.8 x 21.3 cm mediums. Collection Phyllis Lambert, on loan to the Canadian Blanquart-Evrard put his technique to the test by es Architecture Centre, Montreal tablishing his own printing manufactory at Loos-les-Lille in 1851. In that year he published his first album of calo type prints , Album photographique de l' artiste et de l' ama teur (in which this print by Marville was included), as well as a photography manual, Traite de photographie sur pa pier . Until 1855, when he was forced to close his printing establishment for financial reasons, he issued a group of books, albums, pamphlets, and single prints of a quality that established his preeminence as a photographic print maker . Blanquart-Evrard has been called the "Gutenberg of photography," and there is considerable justice to this claim. 8 Gustave le Gray French (1820-1882) Wax had been applied by calotype photographers to their friendship with Fenton, which continued beyond student negatives since the early 1840s in order to render them days, resulted in the dissemination of le Gray's techniques more translucent . Gustave le Gray developed a technique and photographs in Great Britain. A highly versatile tal for coating negative paper with wax before it was sensi ent, le Gray worked in many mediums and with many tized, exposed, and fixed. This method , described in detail subjects, including landscapes, portraits, architecture, re in his Tr aite pra tiq ue de photographie sur papier et sur productions of works of art, and even scenes of military verre (Paris, 1850), had two principal advantages : It short life. He is perhaps best known for his photographs of the ened the required exposure time and it allowed for greater Forest of Fontainebleau, which are contemporary with detail. The calotype photographer could now capture ob the countless images of this subject made by the group of jects in motion, such as rustling leaves and water . "Le French artists known as the Barbizon School, and for his Gray's process ," as it came to be known, had a profound spectacular seascapes, composite prints made from several effect on Fren ch and British photographers . negatives. Some of his photographs inspired paintings Le Gray was trained as a painter in the studio of the by Courbet , Manet, Monet, and Whistler . Although his noted French history and portrait painter Paul Delaroche, photographs of Fontainebleau show a profound debt to who encouraged his many students to make use of photog the landscape paintings of Rousseau, Dupre, and Diaz de raphy as a study aid . There le Gray met Charles Negre, la Pena, they have a power and originality that transcends Henri le Secq, and the Englishman Roger Fenton. His these sources. Foret de Fontainebleau, 1851/ 5 5 (?) Rich purple-brown salted-paper print; 19 x 26.4 cm Houston, David Mancini Gallery 9 Edouard Denis Baldus French (1813-1882) Edouard Baldus ranks among the great French calotypists. His enormous oeuvre , comprised of architectural photo graphs, landscapes, and reproductions of works of art, documents everything from landmarks of ancient civili zation to railroad systems . Trained as a painter, Baldus turned to photography in 1849 and practiced it enthusias tically until the mid -186os, when he apparently abandoned makin g negatives for photomechanical reproduct ion, per fecting a method derived from the earlier discoveries of the French photographic inventor Nicephore Niepce. He ex hibited his works extensively from the late 1850s through Tour Magne Nimes, c.1855 th e 1870s ; there was scarcely a major photography exhibi a Lightly albumenized print; image 44.5 x 33.3 cm, mount tion between 1855 and 1878 to which he did not contrib 58.7 x 44.6 cm ute sup erb prints. He has been referred to as the greatest Photography Collection, Humanities Research Center, "official" photograph er of his generation, as many of his University of Texas at Austin ph otographs were comm issioned by industry or the gov ernment. Such a print as the Tour Magne aNimes demonstrates Baldus 's equal skills as an architectura l photographer and a printer (he always made his own prints) . This photo graph was lightly albumenized to give it a sheen much like that of varnish on an oil painting. Increasingly, Baldus chose to print on commercially produced albumen papers, which permitted the broad tonal range and fine registra tion of detail he preferred. The bright light of the Midi shin es on the Roman tower with a unity and clarity that seem to remove the structure from its place in time. As Baldus is known to have painted ou t all traces of the mo ment , such as figures or clouds, one wonders why he did not remov e the prominent, if small , warning sign posted like a dev otional object in the central arch of the tower; perh aps, with tongue in cheek, he intended it as a tiny re minde r of th e present . Baldus's architectural photographs ar e quint essential expressions of the classical French atti tud e toward culture . Throughout his career, he placed him self at the servic e of civilization, whether ancient, medie val, or modern . Even his views of railroad bridges and stat ion hou ses dep ict an orderly world of monumental form s nobl y resisting the vicissitudes of nature and the indignit ies of the passage of time. 10 Charles Negre French (1820-1880) Calotype photography came of age in the early 1850s. Photographic societies were established, journals prolifer ated, international exhibitions were organized , and Blan quart-Evrard and le Gray's improved techniques for the making of negatives and positives liberated the medium from the drawbacks inherent in Talbot's original process. The majority of photographs in this exhibition were made in this decade. One among the many photographers who practiced calotypy with great inventiveness and skill was Charles Negre. Negre, like le Gray, studied with Paul Delaroche. He took up photography in 1844 as an adjunct to his painting. In contrast to certain other photographers who began as painters, Negre never stopped painting. He conceived of the two mediums as interrelated in their aims, and he believed in exhibiting his prints just as painters ex hibited their work. The majority of Negre's photographs were printed from paper negatives, although he did even tually turn to collodion photography (see Clifford, below). He is known for his landscape and architectural photo graphs of Paris , Chartres, and the Midi, as well as for the superb series of genre scenes he made in Paris and the provinces. Even though it represents a famous Romanesque church and a peasant woman in native dress, Le Portail de Saint Trophime is less a documentation of either the building or the customs of the region than it is an arresting study of light and shadow on a succession of architectural planes. The image's emphasis on form reveals the degree to which Le Portail de Saint Trophime, 1852 Negre's vision as a photographer was shaped by his train Salted-paper print; image 17.5 x 14.9 cm, ing as a painter. Unlike many of his French colleagues, mount 38.4 x 30.4 cm whose prints were made by Blanquart-Evrard, Negre Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada printed his own photographs. 11 Auguste Salzmann French (1824-1872) Auguste Salzmann's photographs must be considered as part of a strong tradition of archeological illustration which had existed in France since the 18th century and which was continued in the 19th century with a great se ries of publications on the Middle East after Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and the Holy Land. Trained both as a painter and as an archeologist, Salzmann placed his photo graphic career at the service of his friend , the great French archeologist L. F. Caignard de Saulcy . In 1853, sponsored by de Saulcy and assisted by a photographer named Dur Jerusalem, Fontaine arabe, 1854 heim, he compiled 200 negatives of the landscapes and Salted-paper print; image 33.1 x 23.3 cm, architectural antiquities of Jerusalem, 72 of which were mount 59.9 x 44.4 cm printed by Blanquart-Evrard as Jerusalem , etudes , repro Ottawa , National Gallery of Canada ductions photographique s des monuments de la Ville Sainte . Although Salzmann later made a series of photo graphs of the necropolis at Camirus, he is best known for the l erusalem prints. Salzmann's approach to photographing sites was funda mentally similar to that of his colleagues who documented the medieval architecture of France-Baldus, Negre , and Marville. Each created a series of details and large views that, collectively, were intended to convey the totality of the subject . Photographs like l erusalem, Fontaine arabe re veal de Saulcy's preoccupation with masonry techniques, by which he redated much of Jerusalem's architecture . The insistent frontality of this image, like that of so many ar chitectural views in this exhibition, was determined by the photographer's desire to avoid problems of depth of field . The flattened appearance of his compositions and the em phasis on salient detail and textures bring to mind the photographs of such modern masters as Edward Weston and Minor White, who, quite unlike Salzmann, con sciously used these devices for abstract visual effect . 12 Charles Clifford English, active in Spain (?-1863) Virtually nothing is known about Charles Clifford's life before his arrival in Spain in 1852. He served as court pho tographer to Queen Isabella II, under whose patronage he produced magnificent portraits, landscapes, and architec tural views . In 1856 Clifford went to Paris to print approx imately 400 negatives of landscapes, genre scenes, and famous works of art which he had taken in Spain during the previous four years. The prints were included in what has become his best known album, Voyage en Espagne. By the mid-185os, calotype photography was virtually eclipsed by the related wet-plate collodion process, an nounced by its inventor, Frederick Scott Archer, in 1851. Archer used a glass negative, which permitted greater de tail than did any paper process. Like many photographers working in the 1850s, Clifford used both the calotype and the collodion process . It is all but impossible today to de termine whether his prints were made from paper or glass negatives, not only because he used albumen-coated pa pers , but also because his control of both techniques was such that he could attain virtually the same level of detail and range of value using either. Images such as Portal Sculpture , Cathedral of Sala manca raise questions about the nature of national styles in calotype photography. Although Clifford was an En glishman who practiced in Spain, he was claimed by the Fren ch critic Ernest Lacan as a member of the French pho tographic school. Yet, in spite of this, certain formal quali ties of his work are strongly reminiscent of those of his English contemporaries. He, like them, preferred pictur esque , asymmetrical compositions and was almost obsessed Portal Sculpture, Cathedral of Salamanca, c. 1853 with the recording of surface detail, a concern that was Lightly albumenized salted-paper print; image 42 x often considered by mid-19th-century critics of both pho 31.8 cm, mount 62 x 47 .2 cm tography and painting to be "English." On the other hand , Photography Collection , Humanities Research Center , his photographs were taken as part of a systematic na University of Texas at Austin tional endeavor and with government sponsorship , which relates them to many similar projects in France . This co nundrum demonstrates the fallacy of a strictly nationalist criticism of photography. Benjamin Bracknell Turner English (1815-1894) Although he used only Talbot's original calotype process, Benjamin Turner achieved large-scale photo grap hs of landscapes and architecture which, despite their size, ex hibit an astonishing degree of detail and tonal richness. His images, made from the early 18 50s until 1862, receiv ed consistent praise from both English and French critics. Lit tle is known about Turner other than that he participated in photographic exhibitions and that he was an officer of the Photographic Exchange Club. Many of Turner 's calotypes, such as Wooded Land scape, recall the picturesque views of rural England by 18th- and 19th-century English watercolorists and print makers and by such famou s artists as John Con stable. In most of his work, Turner rejected frontality , preferring to photo gr aph from an oblique angle. Like Clifford, he was fascinated by details , although he was more artful than his colleague in their dispo sition. In fact, his landscape views are so carefully structured that it seems as thou gh he arranged the countryside itself. Wooded Landscape, c. 18 50/ 5 5 Reddish-brown albumen print; 28.5 x 38.1 cm London, Robert Hershkowitz Linnaeus Tripe English (1822-1902) Linnaeus Tripe was a remarkable photographic techni Most of Tripe's images are profusely detailed and com cian . Working in India and Burma, at a great distance from plex. Indeed, he seems to have reveled in the richness of photographic suppliers and aesthetic stimulus, he never surface decoration that is at the center of the architectural theless managed to produce a group of landscape and sensibility of India and Burma. The extraordinary power architectural photographs of great beauty . The son of a of such photographs as this view of a ceremonial passage surgeon who practiced in Devon, Tripe enlisted in the 12th way in the Putha Mundapum is a dramatic departure from Madras Native Division in August 1839, only months after the picturesque mode of British-colonial travel illustration. Talbot's announcement of the calotype process. Where Recognizing the ritual nature of the space before him, and when he learned photography is unknown; but, by Tripe created an image that is at once structured and elu 1855, he was official photographer to the British Mission sive. Placing his camera in the axial center of the sacred at the Court of Ava in Burma, and one year later he be space, Tripe opened the shutter for a period long enough came the government photographer to the Madras presi to reveal the light playing on the sculpture at either side dency. Shortly thereafter, two albums of photographs he of the passageway. As the shutter stayed open, the land made in Madras and Trichinopoly appeared; both rival the scape at the end of the space gradually gave way to what better known albums produced by Blanquart-Evrard for becomes in the photograph a shining rectangle of light. Maxime du Camp, Auguste Salzmann, and J.B. Greene. Aisle in the South Side of Putha Mundapum, from the Western Portico, 1856/ 57 Rich purple-gray salted-paper print; 22-7 x 32.8 cm London, Robert Hershkowitz ' Paper and light: The Calotype in France and Great Britain, 1839-1870 Paper and Light: The Calotype in France and Great Britain, Name 18 39-1870 , co-publis hed by the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and David R. Godine, Bos Address ton, will be 196 pp ., with 8 color plates and 155 duotone illustrations. The book includes three essays on the his- City, State Zip tory and technique of the medium, as well as biographical sketches of the photographers and comments on the 140 calotypes featured in the exhibition and catalogue. Please send me ordering information for the catalogue as soon as it is available . ..