Parc de Sceaux
Eugène Atget
French, 1857–1927
1915-19
A matte albumen silver print photograph in which Eugène Atget records the worn stone steps and classical urns of Parc de Sceaux with a quiet, documentary eye that treats Paris’s built environment as a subject worthy of preservation.
What strikes you is the low, broad sweep of weathered steps ascending into a stand of bare trees, rendered in soft sepia tones and tactile stone textures that give the scene a hushed, almost timeless stillness.
Part of Atget’s encyclopedic project to preserve a vanishing Paris, this image helped redefine photography as both archival record and poetic vision and went on to influence generations of modern photographers.
Medium
Matte albumen silver print
Dimensions
Approx. 6 1/2 × 8 1/2" (16.5 × 21.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abbott-Levy Collection. Acquired through the generosity of Shirley C. Burden, and Family of Man Fund
Accession
1.1969.2688
Palette
Exhibitions
