Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00012956Versailles, Fountain of Triumphant France
About the Artwork
From 1901 until his death in 1927, Atget devoted much of his time to documenting châteaus and parks in and around Paris. Initially and most frequently, he was attracted to the gardens of Versailles, first working there until 1906. This intriguing detail of the Fountain of Triumphant France isolates two of its three allegorical figures: the seated representation of the French Empire behind Jean-Baptiste Tubi’s sculpture denoting Spain. The fountain was commissioned by Louis XIV to celebrate the French victory over Spain and Holland. The sharply focused composition filled with decorative and sculptural details is typical of Atget’s early photographs, which he understood to be "documents for artists"—raw material for painters, sculptors, stage designers, and craftsmen.
Inscriptions
Written in pencil on verso: "Versailles"; "#6493"
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).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Eugène Atget (French, 1857–1927)
- Date
- 1904
- Medium
- albumen print, gold toned
- Dimensions
- Image: 22 x 18.2 cm (8 11/16 x 7 3/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1985.114
More by Jean-Eugène-Auguste Atget in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00012956
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