Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00013005Nymphéa
About the Artwork
A prolific Parisian artist who enjoyed a three-decade career, Atget was one of the most important and original photographers active at the beginning of the 20th century. This sparkling landscape of a mass of white water lily blossoms (Nymphéa) is among Atget's best compositions, created in the 1920s, when he was at the height of his artistic prowess. This scene, full of luxurious botany, was probably taken in Bagatelle Park at the edge of Paris's Bois de Boulogne. He carefully focused on the floating plants and their sculptured flowers, detailing texture and shape. The early morning illumination created light and shadow patterns that enabled Atget to isolate flat, abstracted forms while simultaneously depicting a deep pictorial space. In this lush, purplish print, the lily pond shimmers with reflected shadows and brilliant highlights.
Inscriptions
written in pencil on verso: "Nymphea"; "MOMA/DUPE/2002"? "(initials)?"
Provenance
David Tunick, New York, NY September 3, 2002: 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).
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
- 1922–23
- Medium
- albumen print, gold-toned
- Dimensions
- Image: 22.2 x 17.6 cm (8 3/4 x 6 15/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Accession no.
- 2002.69
More by Jean-Eugène-Auguste Atget in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00013005
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