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Behind the Troglodyte Farm
About the Artwork
This large-scale print, exceptional for the period, belongs to a small group of photographs by Le Secq of troglodyte, or cave, dwellings in western France near the Loire River. Around the 1400s, the term troglodyte referred to groups of political activists who lived underground in order to avoid property taxes, which only applied to above-ground dwellings.
Inscriptions
Printed into the image, at the bottom right corner: " h. Le secq."
Provenance
1973–74: Anonymous American art historian from a flea market, Paris, France Late 1990s: (Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs, New York, NY, sold to Robert Hershkowitz, Ltd., London, England) 2002–2004: (Robert Hershkowitz, Ltd., London, England, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) June 7, 2004–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Drawn with Light: Pioneering French Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 26-June 16, 2005). France at the Dawn of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 24, 2010). Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (organizer) (October 19, 2013-February 9, 2014). France in the Time of Manet and Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-August 23, 2026).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Henri Le Secq (French, 1818–1882)
- Date
- c. 1853
- Medium
- salted paper print from waxed paper negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 50.9 x 31.1 cm (20 1/16 x 12 1/4 in.); Matted: 76.2 x 61 cm (30 x 24 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
- Accession no.
- 2004.32
More by Henri Le Secq in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00000357
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