TEN SEASCAPES BY GUSTAVE LE GRAY
Mercredi 01 juin 2011
Gazette Drouot International, Caroline Legrand
An auction of photographs by Gustave Le Gray, whom many consider the first veritable artist-photographer, is always an event. These ten seascape to be dispersed in Vendôme are no exception. Collectors snap up landscapes, military reviews, urban panoramas and famous landmarks, but the seascapes set off sensational bidding wars. These come from a particularly old collection, over 100 years old, owned by Charles Denis Labrousse (1828-1898), a highranking naval officer who took part in the Crimean War and the siege of Sebastopol. In 1856, the same year Le Gray photographed many of his seascapes, Labrousse became a lieutenant in 1856, but resigned shortly thereafter due to health reasons. Early retirement gave him time to focus on his passions, photography and collecting. He concentrated his purchases on seascapes and was passionate about Le Gray's work from the start, quickly perceiving his talent. In the early 1850's Le Gray, a big traveller and a student of the painter Paul Delaroche, became a pioneer in the brand new discipline, opening up a new chapter by inventing the collodion process. His infallible eye ranks him with the greatest Dutch and Flemish seascape painters.
Caroline Legrand