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Lot Essay
Peintre de formation, marqué par le néoclassicisme et le romantisme, Charles Nègre conserva toute sa vie le titre de peintre, même après sa découverte de la photographie vers 1850, à laquelle il décida de se consacrer pleinement. D'abord envisagée comme un moyen de recueillir des études et des motifs, la photographie s'imposa rapidement comme son principal mode d'expression. Il écrira plus tard : « Assistant à une des séances de l’Académie où furent présentées des images daguerriennes, je fus frappé d’étonnement à la vue de ces merveilles et, entrevoyant l’avenir réservé à cet art nouveau, je pris la résolution d’y consacrer mon temps et mes forces. »
Écarté de la Mission héliographique de 1851, qui confia à cinq photographes le relevé des principaux monuments français, Nègre décida de mener sa propre entreprise. Il entreprit alors un voyage de six mois en Provence et devint l'un des premiers photographes à offrir un vaste panorama du Midi de la France. À Arles, il réalisa certaines de ses images les plus remarquables, qui furent publiées entre 1854 et 1855 dans son ouvrage Le Midi de la France.
Trained as a painter and deeply influenced by Neoclassicism and Romanticism, Charles Nègre retained the title of painter throughout his life, even after discovering photography around 1850 and deciding to devote himself fully to the medium. Initially conceived as a means of gathering studies and motifs, photography quickly became his primary mode of expression. He would later write: “While attending a session of the Academy at which daguerreian images were presented, I was struck with amazement at the sight of these marvels and, glimpsing the future reserved for this new art, I resolved to devote my time and energies to it.”
Excluded from the Mission héliographique of 1851, which entrusted five photographers with documenting France’s principal monuments, Nègre decided to undertake his own project. He embarked on a six-month journey through Provence and became one of the first photographers to offer a broad visual survey of southern France. In Arles, he produced some of his most remarkable images, which were published between 1854 and 1855 in his book Le Midi de la France.
Écarté de la Mission héliographique de 1851, qui confia à cinq photographes le relevé des principaux monuments français, Nègre décida de mener sa propre entreprise. Il entreprit alors un voyage de six mois en Provence et devint l'un des premiers photographes à offrir un vaste panorama du Midi de la France. À Arles, il réalisa certaines de ses images les plus remarquables, qui furent publiées entre 1854 et 1855 dans son ouvrage Le Midi de la France.
Trained as a painter and deeply influenced by Neoclassicism and Romanticism, Charles Nègre retained the title of painter throughout his life, even after discovering photography around 1850 and deciding to devote himself fully to the medium. Initially conceived as a means of gathering studies and motifs, photography quickly became his primary mode of expression. He would later write: “While attending a session of the Academy at which daguerreian images were presented, I was struck with amazement at the sight of these marvels and, glimpsing the future reserved for this new art, I resolved to devote my time and energies to it.”
Excluded from the Mission héliographique of 1851, which entrusted five photographers with documenting France’s principal monuments, Nègre decided to undertake his own project. He embarked on a six-month journey through Provence and became one of the first photographers to offer a broad visual survey of southern France. In Arles, he produced some of his most remarkable images, which were published between 1854 and 1855 in his book Le Midi de la France.