Gustave Le Gray

albumen print, the photographer's red facsimile signature stamp in the lower right corner of the image, mounted, the photographer's blindstamp on the mount, 1857

Originally in the collection of William, 2nd Earl of Craven (1809-1866)

Bearne's Exeter, The Craven Photographic Collection, 6 May 2000, Lot 91

Christie's London, 18 May 2005, Sale 7040, Lot 51

Eugenia Parry Janis, The Photography of Gustave Le Gray (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1987), pl. 14 and p. 71

Ken Jacobson, The Lovely Sea-View: A Study of the Marine Photographs Published by Gustave Le Gray, 1856-1858 (Petches Bridge, 2001), fig. 9, p. 16

Sylvie Aubenas, Gustave Le Gray: 1820-1884 (Bibliothèque Nationale de France/Gallimard and The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002), cat. no. 131, pp. 124 and 366

Simon Kelly and April M. Watson, Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet (Saint Louis Art Museum and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2013), pl. 108

Weston Naef, Photographers of Genius at the Getty (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004), pl. 15

Manfred Heiting, et al., At the Still Point: Photographs from the Manfred Heiting Collection, Volume I (Los Angeles and Amsterdam, 1995), p. 93

Edward Lucie-Smith, The Invented Eye: Masterpieces of Photography, 1839-1914 (New York, 1975), pl. 36

Grading this albumen print on a scale of 1 to 10 – a 10 being a print that has rich, deep dark tones and highlights that retain all of their original detail – this print rates a very strong 10. This photograph has crisp, creamy highlights, and saturated, dark eggplant tones that nearly approach black. The waves, rocky shoreline, and distant sailboat are all rendered with great clarity and impressive ranging tonality. In high raking light, the following are visible upon very close examination: occasional tiny deposits of original retouching; superficial surface scratches and impressions; and a few very small, faintly-darkened areas, possibly foxing. In the lower central portion of the image, a flaw in the negative appears to have been retouched on the print. The print of this image in the Bibliotheque Nationale shows these same characteristics (cf. Aubenas, 'Gustave Le Gray: 1820-1884,' cat. no. 131, p. 124). The mount is appropriately age-darkened, most noticeably along the upper edge, very soiled, and exhibits moderate foxing. The mount edges and corners are worn, chipped, and sharply creased, and there is a long, thin tideline and linear crease along the left edge. There is a 2½-inch tear (with attendant small loss) extending from the lower edge of the mount to just below the blindstamp. The reverse of the mount is heavily soiled and there are large tidelines.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Breaking Wave illustrates the intensity of emotion and the dramatic contrast between light and dark that Le Gray was capable of evoking in his seascapes.  After years of photographing in the studio, or for the architectural survey of Mission Héliographique, Le Gray turned in 1855 and 1856 to more personal subject matter with his photographs of the Normandy and Mediterranean coasts.  In April 1857, Le Gray made The Breaking Wave and several other seascapes from Sète, a seaside port in the South of France.  This photograph was immediately popular in England and France, and it was one of only three images that Le Gray filed for copyright with the Ministry of the Interior.

The photograph offered here comes originally from the collection of the enigmatic William Craven, Second Earl of Craven.  Eton and Oxford educated, Craven was a capable amateur photographer and an enthusiastic member of the Royal Photographic Society.  Two of his photographs were included in the Photographic Society’s second annual exhibition in 1855, and at the Edinburgh Photographic Society the following year.  Throughout the 1850s, Craven, traveling with his mobile darkroom, photographed the grounds and statuary of Ashdown House, his family estate on the Berkshire Downs 70 miles west of London; the Craven family and children; and floral and fowl still life.  Craven’s interests extended beyond his own photography, and his wealth allowed him to collect the work of his contemporaries Roger Fenton, Charles Marville, and Gustave Le Gray. 

Craven’s collection, and his own early photographic work, was rediscovered in two historic auctions in 2000 and 2001.