Untitled
Auguste Belloc
French, 1800–1867
c. 1858
An albumen silver print of a carefully staged reclining nude in which Belloc translates the conventions of academic painting into the new medium of photography, testing the camera’s capacity to render flesh and fabric.
What strikes you is the luminous, almost porcelain skin set against heavy, patterned drapery and the diagonal sweep of the chaise—her turned-away face and the tactile richness create a quietly sensual, painterly tableau.
An example of mid‑19th‑century photography that brought the classical nude into the photographic studio, challenging boundaries between art and documentation and helping to establish photographic portraiture and erotic imagery as legitimate visual practices.
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
5 13/16 × 7 15/16" (14.8 × 20.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Suzanne Winsberg Collection. Gift of Suzanne Winsberg
Accession
506.2009
Palette
Exhibitions
