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Untitled (Farm Animals)

Adolphe Braun

1854

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Romanticism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Untitled (Farm Animals) is a 1854 by Adolphe Braun, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Adolphe Braun
When & what style?: 1854 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This photo shows a peaceful farm scene full of sheep, cows, and a donkey near a stone house. Sunlight falls just right on the animals, making their wool and hides look soft and real. You can almost feel the quiet of early morning. Braun took this in the 1850s using an early camera. This isn’t just a snapshot—it’s one of the first big photos made to help artists draw farm animals correctly. Check out another Braun photo called *Cows in a Meadow* at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

While the animals and farmers are in sharp focus in Adolphe Braun's photograph, the buildings are blurred, suggesting that perhaps Braun intended to market these photographs to visual artists as models rather than intending them to be hung on people’s walls as a substitute for a painting.

Did you know?

Oxen and horses were essential elements of 19th-century farming; they pulled the plows and other farm equipment, some of which is visible behind the animals here.

Read the full account in the museum source.