Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
Study after Nature
About the Artwork
In the early 1850s, despite protests from moralists, photographs of nudes (known as académies) were discreetly produced under the guise of "artist's studies." Among those most skilled at making such studies was Julien Vallou de Villeneuve. A successful painter and lithographer during the 1820s and 1830s before turning to photography in the early 1840s, he created a new repertoire of poses for artists to use as compositional aids. Among his clients was the French realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819–1877).
Inscriptions
Written in pencil on recto: "1909[G?]"; "nog / ser7"; in pencil on verso: "2 [circled]"
Provenance
Leon Herschtritt, Paris, France Joachim Bonnemaison [1943-], Paris, France ?-1993: (Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY) December 6, 1993: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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). 19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (French, 1795–1866)
- Date
- c. 1853–55
- Medium
- waxed salt print from waxed paper negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 16.1 x 12.2 cm (6 5/16 x 4 13/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Dudley P. Allen Fund
- Accession no.
- 1993.163
More by Julien Vallou de Villeneuve in museum collections
Mr. Leroux in the Role of Alceste in Le Misanthrope
Julien Vallou de Villeneuvemid-1850s · Photograph
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-00012968
Powered by Art Trackers