Gustave Le Gray,

Gustave LE GRAY (1820-1884), large vintage albumen print, circa 1856.

Paris, Palais des Tuileries, Place du Carrousel, Arc de Triomphe and East facade.

Photographer's stamp-signature in red ink lower right.

Size 34 x 47 cm

Cardboard size 36 x 48.5 cm

Gustave Le Gray (1820-1884) is considered one of the most important French photographers of the 19th century. As a painter, draughtsman, sculptor and photographer, he played a central role in the technical and artistic evolution of photography. Le Gray also took part in the Mission héliographique in 1851, tasked with documenting French monuments, and was the first official photographer of a French head of state, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, before becoming the photographer of the imperial family.