Lot 51
51
GUSTAVE LE GRAY (1820-1882)
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
GUSTAVE LE GRAY (1820-1882)

The Breaking Wave, Sète, Spring 1857

Details
GUSTAVE LE GRAY (1820-1882)
The Breaking Wave, Sète, Spring 1857
albumen print
facsimile signature stamp on recto; embossed credit stamp on mount
16 3/8 x 12 5/8in. (41.7 x 32.1cm.)
Provenance
Originally from the collection of William, 2nd Earl of Craven (1809-1866);
Bearne's, Exeter, The Craven Photographic Collection, 6 May 2000, lot 91.
Literature
S. Aubenas, Exhibition catalogue, Gustave Le Gray, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2002, p.124, pl.144; p.366, fig.131; R. Therond, Une Passion Française, Paris, 1999, pp.55, 305; E.P. Janis, The Photography of Gustave Le Gray, Chicago, 1987, pl.14.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This is Le Gray's only known seascape in a vertical format. He focuses the viewer's attention first on the breaking wave of the foreground, then diagonally along the rippled surface to the harbour wall and sailboat, and back along the horizon line. Unlike most of Le Gray's seascapes, this image is produced from a single negative; the underexposed sky gives an appropriately dramatic tone.

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