Impasse Briare (de la Cité Coquenard)
Charles Marville
1860s · Albumen silver print from glass negative · Photographs
In his capacity as official photographer of Paris, Marville photographed the large-scale modernization of the city carried out under Baron Haussmann-its new boulevards, parks, markets, and street lamps-as well as the picturesque narrow streets and quaint courtyards that would soon be razed to accommodate the grand design of Emperor Napoleon III. This desolate yet elegant photograph documents an impasse, or dead-end street, in the ninth arrondissement near Montmartre. The cobblestoned Impasse Briare was not destined to be destroyed and remains today a poignant reminder of the simple beauty of old Paris.
- Artist
- Charles Marville
- Date
- 1860s
- Medium
- Albumen silver print from glass negative
- Department
- Photographs
- Credit line
- Gilman Collection, Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Kravis Gift, 2005
