Jérusalem, Chemin de Naplouse

Auguste Salzmann|Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille

1854 · Salted paper print from paper negative · Photographs

Centrally placed olive trees stretch toward a vacated sky, while rocky terrain leads to a stone wall that marks the split between heaven and earth. This picturesque landscape recalls Salzmann’s earlier endeavors as a painter; throughout the late 1840s and early 1850s, he exhibited idyllic views of Italy and France at the official Salons. He had been influenced by the Barbizon School, a group of artists dedicated to elevating the genre of landscape painting in France. Here, he also references his photographic instructor, the eminent artist Gustave Le Gray (1820–1884), who promoted the paper negative process in France and created striking compositions of single beech and oak trees in the Fontainebleau Forest just outside Paris.

Artist

Auguste Salzmann|Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille

Date

1854

Medium

Salted paper print from paper negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005