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
This work is not currently on view.
- 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
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.
- Exhibitions
2013 Fierce: Animal Life from the Collection Portland Art Museum
2014 Halcyon Days: The Camera in the Garden Portland Art Museum