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Cow and Two Sheep


Auguste Giraudon's Artist, Cow and Two Sheep, ca. 1877, albumen silver print, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Photography Council, public domain, 2012.81.1

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Details
Title

Cow and Two Sheep

Artist

Auguste Giraudon's Artist (French, active late 19th century)

Date

ca. 1877

Medium

albumen silver print

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image: 4 15/16 in x 6 11/16 in; sheet: 4 15/16 in x 6 11/16 in

Inscriptions & Markings

inscription: .B.17, on negative, lower right

Collection Area

Photography

Category

Photographs

Object Type

photograph

Culture

French

Credit Line

Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Photography Council

Accession Number

2012.81.1

Copyright

public domain

Terms

albumen prints

cows

photographs

sheep

Description

In the 1870s, French printer and publisher Auguste Giraudon hired an unnamed artist to photograph genre scenes for use as source material for drawings, paintings, and prints. These photographs may have been made near the forest of Fontainebleau, a popular location for artists of the Barbizon school, and they mimic the Barbizon painters' simple subjects and romanticized views of peasants, everyday work activities, and livestock. The creator of these beautiful images was never identified, likely on purpose. During the late nineteenth century, painters who used photographs as source material were often considered cheaters who made fine art by using a substandard mechanical process as a crutch.

History
Exhibitions

2013 Fierce: Animal Life from the Collection Portland Art Museum

2014 Halcyon Days: The Camera in the Garden Portland Art Museum

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