Louvre, Façade rue de Rivoli, Paris

1855

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Louvre, Façade rue de Rivoli, Paris is a 1855 by Édouard Baldus, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Édouard Baldus
When & what style?: 1855 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a long, sunlit stone wall with tall columns and arched windows—the side of the Louvre museum in Paris. This isn’t a painting. It’s an early photograph from 1855, taken while the building was still under construction. Baldus used a new process called albumen printing, which gave his images a soft, detailed look. The photo was meant to document the project, not just show off the architecture. To see how photography changed art, look up the technique impasto.

The story of this work

Overview

Baldus took up photography in the 1840s and became renowned for his architectural views. In 1854, he was commissioned to record construction of the New Louvre, Emperor Napoleon III’s project to build wings that would join the Louvre and Tuileries Palaces and create a vast courtyard.