Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
Pathway in the Forest of Fontainebleau
About the Artwork
One of the most inventive and influential French photographers of the 1850s, Le Gray was widely known for his landmark studies taken in the Forest of Fontainbleau, near Paris, from about 1849 to 1857. The photographs share a kinship with the work of the Barbizon painters, such as Corot, Daubigny, and Millet, who also worked there. Le Gray skillfully overcame technical problems to master the photographing of greenery and dark areas and to exploit the visual effects of light and atmosphere. In this enchanting scene, the viewer is drawn almost magnetically into a carriage trail surrounded by a dense archway of trees with sparkling sunlight filtering through the leaves.
Inscriptions
Written in black ink on recto: "Gustave Le Gray [signed]"; written in pencil on verso: "CW.56 / STL / 125"
Provenance
Charles Henry Miller [1842-1922], New York, NY Paul Cava [1949-], Philadelphia, PA David Mancini ?-1988: (Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY) September 22, 1988: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989). Pioneers of Landscape Photography from the Museum's Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 12, 2000-January 3, 2001). 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).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Gustave Le Gray (French, 1820–1884)
- Date
- 1849–52
- Medium
- salted paper print from waxed paper negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 19.1 x 26.5 cm (7 1/2 x 10 7/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
- Accession no.
- 1988.64
More by Gustave Le Gray in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00012611
Powered by Art Trackers