Ancien couvent de l'Assomption, Rue Cambon (démoli)

Eugène Atget

1898

An albumen silver photograph by Eugène Atget that records the quiet courtyard of the Ancien couvent de l'Assomption on Rue Cambon, an everyday fragment of Old Paris he sought to preserve before demolition.

The dome rises above a row of worn stone arcades while an empty gravel courtyard—scattered with barrels, a small shed, and a stand of trees—is rendered in soft, diffused tones that emphasize texture and age.

Part of Atget’s vast visual inventory of Paris, this calm, archival picture shows how his steady, documentary eye turned overlooked urban details into a lasting record that influenced documentary practice and modernist photographers.

Palette

Art Terms

Albumen silver print Photography Documentary photography Cityscape Architecture Architectural fragment

Exhibitions

French Photographs: Daguerre to Atget

1945

The Work of Atget: The Art of Old Paris

1982

The Work of Atget: Old France

1981

The Work of Atget: The Ancien Régime

1985