Algerian Woman

About the Artwork

In some Muslim cultures, portrait photographs were commissioned of women who were completely veiled. However, given that De Beaucorps was a wealthy amateur photographer and art collector, he probably initiated the sitting to document the local costume. After studying photography with Gustave Le Gray in Paris, De Beaucorps photographed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 1857 and 1861.

Inscriptions

Written in pencil on recto of mount: "L1049"

Provenance

?–?: Family of the Artist (Gustave Beaucorps), sold to Marc Pagneux, Paris, France ?–?: (Marc Pagneux, Paris, France), sold to Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY ?–1997: (Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH March 4, 1997–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017).

Quick Overview

Artist: Gustave de Beaucorps (French, 1825–1906)
Date: late 1850s
Medium: albumen print from wet collodion negative
Dimensions: Image: 21.3 x 15.4 cm (8 3/8 x 6 1/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1997.45

More by Gustave de Beaucorps in museum collections

Palace Algeria
Gustave de Beaucorps
1859 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00007941

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.