Eugène Cuvelier 1837-1900

The collection of John Chandler Bancroft, Middletown, Rhode Island

Gustave J. S. White Co., Auctioneers, Newport, Rhode Island, 1989

Acquired from the above by a New England antiques dealer

To the present owners, 1989

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Eugène Cuvelier, Photographer in the Circle of Corot, October 1996 - January 1997 

Another print of this image:

Ulrike Gauss, Henning Weidemann, and Daniel Challe, Eugène Cuvelier (Stuttgart, 1996, in conjunction with the exhibition), no. 292

While the locale of the impressive stand of oak trees in this photograph is unknown, the image is compositionally reminiscent of a contemporaneous drawing by Théodore Rousseau entitled 'La Chêne de la Reine-Blanche' (Michel Schulman, Théodore Rousseau 1812 - 1867: Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Graphique, no.564).  The vertical format of this drawing  - less common than the horizontal in the case of both Cuvelier and Rousseau - and the placement of the large and dignified trees, demonstrates a similar compositional approach to similar subject matter. 

The issue of influence on - or of - Cuvelier's work is difficult to quantify.  Aside from the established fact that Cuvelier and Rousseau were friends, it is not known to what extent they worked in each other's company.  However, many of Rousseau's drawings and sketches are similar in subject matter and composition to Cuvelier's photographs.  Both Cuvelier and Rousseau favored Fontainebleau's quieter, less-traversed areas, and tended toward natural subject matter that was devoid of overt drama.  Rousseau's paintings, by contrast, with their frequent inclusion of human figures, and emphasis on the dramatic atmospheric effects of light and weather, do not offer as apt a comparison to Cuvelier's photographs.

Gauss does not account for this salt print in her census, and lists only an albumen print.