Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00013017Thebes, The Colossi of Memnon
About the Artwork
As more photographers shot the same monuments,depictions became formulaic.Numerous photographers produced almost identical images,as demonstrated in these two views of the Colossi of Memnon. Shot from different sides but about the same distance, both images employ an angled view and use Egyptian servants and guides as local color and indexes of scale. Captions and artists’ signatures were often written in reverse on the negatives so that they would automatically become part of each print. Sometimes, as in the Beato image, the artist or his assistant was care less.
Inscriptions
Imprinted in white on recto: "No.97 Thebes, Colosses de Memnon H. Bechard" Written in pencil on verso: "No.97/Fiends (?) Ed. CORROYER/Drilitect (?) olly (?) M.H./THEBES/Colosses de Memnon/Li(?) No.97 H.BECHARD"
Exhibition history
Pyramids & Sphinxes: Views of Egypt. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-May 24, 2016).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Henri Béchard (French)
- Date
- 1870s
- Medium
- albumen print from wet collodion negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 36 x 26.9 cm (14 3/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 36 x 26.9 cm (14 3/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund
- Accession no.
- 2006.119
More by Henri Béchard in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00013017
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