Gorge at Eaux Chaudes, Pyrenees

About the Artwork

The town of Pau, in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains, was a popular vacation spot for British tourists and one of several centers for photography in France in the 1850s. Jean-Jacques Heilmann, who lived in Pau, photographed the road that ran through the mountains to the village of Eaux-Chaudes with its popular hot springs. The road had just been built in 1849. It greatly eased access to Eaux-Chaudes and offered dramatic views.

Inscriptions

Written in pencil on recto of mount: "À Mon Ami Nicola / JJH"; "Nouvelle Route des Eaux Chaudes"

Exhibition history

Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997). France in the Time of Manet and Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-August 23, 2026).

Quick Overview

Artist: Jean-Jacques Heilmann (French, 1822–1859)
Date: c. 1855
Medium: salted paper print from wet collodion negative
Dimensions: Image: 25.8 x 19.7 cm (10 3/16 x 7 3/4 in.); Matted: 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession no.: 1995.27

Provenance

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s open-access data does not include an ownership history for this work. See the museum’s page for this work.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.