The Royal Stag
1870
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1870
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Royal Stag is a 1870 by James Valentine, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows a royal stag in bright light. This photo is interesting because it looks spontaneous, which is rare for photos from this time. The technology used to take this photo required a darkroom nearby to process the picture right away. Check out the technique of chiaroscuro to learn more about how artists use light and dark to create depth in their work.
One of the earliest photographs in this exhibition, James Valentine’s Royal Stag possesses a rare spontaneity, both for photographs of this period and for still-life images in general. In photographing a royal stag (one with antlers of twelve or more branches), Valentine gave the animal the appearance of one that had just fallen in the bright light of midday. Because the technology of the day required a nearby darkroom where the exposed negative plate could be processed immediately, it is likely that the felled stag was arranged into its artistic pose by the photographer or his staff.…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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