Open full image Pin

Bas-relief portion of frieze with three comic figures in terra cotta

Louise Laffon

1864

photographic

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Gandhara

Dominant colour

Bas-relief portion of frieze with three comic figures in terra cotta is a 1864 photographic by Louise Laffon, a Impressionism work, depicting Gandhara, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Louise Laffon
When & what style?: 1864 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This photo is a small terra cotta bas-relief from 1863–64. It shows three comic figures in a frieze-style layout. Louise Laffon made it as part of the Impressionist and Realist movements. It’s a rare snapshot of how artists used photography early on. The Victoria and Albert Museum collected it early, in 1852, to help art students study figures. Look up Louise Laffon next.

The story of this work

Overview

A terra cotta bas-relief portion of a frieze featuring three comic figures was photographed by Louise Laffon in 1864 as part of a series documenting objects from the Campana Collection at the Musée Napoléon III in Paris. The Victoria and Albert Museum acquired 500 albumen prints from this series through an agent, including this photograph, which was originally presented with a gilded mount bearing the gender-neutral stamp "L. Laffon" and the studio name "Photographie Lord Byron." The series consisted of one hundred albumen photographs depicting sculptures in marble, terracotta, and antique…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Louise Laffon

Louise Laffon (1828–1885), was a French photographer and painter. She was one of the first female professional photographers in France. She had a studio in Paris between 1859 and 1876.

See the richer artist page