Open full image Pin

Versailles, Chaste Venus

Eugène Atget

1922

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Early Modern Mythology

Dominant colour

Versailles, Chaste Venus is a 1922 by Eugène Atget, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Eugène Atget
When & what style?: 1922
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a bronze Venus statue in a Versailles garden. Late afternoon light casts long shadows on her smooth curves. One hand holds a dove. The empty path stretches behind her. Atget shot this in 1923. He loved Versailles’ quiet corners. Empty frames make everyday scenes feel strange and dreamy. He didn’t stage photos. He just stood there, waited, and caught the odd hush of a place built for noise. Check out Atget’s other Versailles shots at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

During the first quarter of the 20th century, Eugène Atget photographed the French urban experience. Periodically, from 1901 to 1926, Atget was particularly attracted to the grounds and gardens at the palace of Versailles, photographing its walks, fountains, and statues during different seasons. An eerie silence and mysteriousness frequently suffuses his images, as it does in this haunting photograph of Antoine Coysevox's bronze sculpture of Venus, positioned on a raised plinth facing the palace's garden facade. With the placement of his camera, Atget brought a carefully ordered harmony to…

Read the full account in the museum source.