Kaalat el Athlit, Syria, View from the Seaside

About the Artwork

After fulfilling his obligation to a government-sponsored expedition to the crusader castles of Syria and Asia Minor, Louis de Clercq continued his photographic exploration of the Holy Land, moved on to Egypt, and returned to France through Spain. From the probably several hundred paper negatives he took during his extensive travels, de Clercq published a selection of 222 albumen prints, divided into 6 volumes, which were frequently bound as 5 albums, titled Voyage in Orient (1859–60). This carefully posed panorama of the Syrian coastline at Kaalat el Athlit, bathed in warm light and luminous shadows, records the sweep of space and rugged beauty of the site, emphasizing its geographical and topographical features. Interestingly, de Clercq’s use of the panoramas represents an impressive technical achievement, since the difficulties in mid-19th-century photography only increased when the negatives had to form a continuous image. His panoramas also reveal the period’s zeal to convey as much information as possible about the experience of a place.

Inscriptions

Written in negative: "3"; printed in black ink on mount: "KALAAT EL ATHLIT / CÔTÉ DE LA MER/[artist's seal]"

Provenance

(Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA) September 16, 1996: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Signs of Life: Recent Photography Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 2003-April 7, 2004).

Quick Overview

Artist: Louis de Clercq (French, 1836–1901)
Date: 1859
Medium: albumen print from calotype negatives
Dimensions: Image: 20.7 x 15.2 cm (8 1/8 x 6 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 71.1 cm (22 x 28 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession no.: 1996.254

More by Louis De Clercq in museum collections

Karnac, Grande Allée du Milieu des Ruines, Prise de l'est
Louis De Clercq
1859/60 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00007943
Kalatt-El-Athlit, Côté de la Terre
Louis De Clercq
c. 1860 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00008082
Tripoli, Vue Partielle
Louis De Clercq
1859–60 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00013362

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