Kalaat-el-Markab – Vue partielle des murs (ouest) (Fortress of Margat [Syria] – Partial view of the walls from the west),

Artist Louis Constantin Henri François Xavier de Clercq (French, 1837 - 1901)

CultureFrench

Date1859

MediumWaxed-paper negative

Dimensions11 1/2 × 8 7/8 in. (29.2 × 22.5 cm)
Overall, Frame (lightbox): 21 × 18 1/2 × 3 in. (53.3 × 47 × 7.6 cm)

InscribedVerso numbered in black ink: 13; Verso numbered in pencil: 3

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank

Object number2004.10.2

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 228

DescriptionThis is an oiled paper negative with black brush-retouchings and sky masked in black gouache. It is the negative for the print of the Kalaat-el-Markab castle, partial view of the walls (west) in the _Voyage En Orient: recueil photographique exécuté par Louis de Clercq, 1858-1859_ book, volume II, plate 12.

Label TextLouis Constantin Henri François Xavier de Clercq French, 1837–1901 Fortress of Margat, Syria—Partial view of the walls from the west, 1859 Waxed-paper negative The paper negative process, which was invented in 1839 by the Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot, allowed many photographs to be made from a single exposure but lacked the sharpness and fine grain of the daguerreotype. Whereas Talbot and other amateurs learned to wax or oil negatives after exposure to reduce the fibroustexture of the paper, the Frenchman Gustave Le Gray in 1850 promoted a process using paper negatives waxed and sensitized weeks prior to exposure, facilitating travel and landscape work. To produce a positive print, a sheet of sensitized paper was placed under the negative in a printing frame and exposed to sunlight. A positive from de Clercq’s negative can be found in this exhibition. Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2004.10.2 ProvenanceTexbraun Gallery, Paris, France; Harry Lunn, 1987-1992; Daniel Blau, Munich, Germany, 2003; Robert Klein, Boston, Ma., 2004; Chrysler Museum of Art Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, 2004. Exhibition History"New Frames of Reference: Early French Photographers at Home and Abroad," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, gallery 228, September 5, 2024 - February 16, 2025. "Alter Ego: Louis de Clercq - Negatives 1859," Paris Photo, France, November 13 - November 16, 2003. [http://www.danielblau.de/index_e.html #70 under "Gallery Program"] Published ReferencesLouis de Clercq, text by Karl Schlamminger, _Alter Ego: Louis De Clercq - Negatives 1859_, exh. cat., Galerie Daniel Blau, 2003.