Open full image Pin

Female figure playing on pipe, bas-relief fragment in terra cotta

Louise Laffon

1864

photographic

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century

Dominant colour

Female figure playing on pipe, bas-relief fragment in terra cotta is a 1864 photographic by Louise Laffon, a Impressionism work, 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 is a photograph from 1863-1864. It's a bas-relief fragment in terra cotta of a female figure playing on a pipe. The Victoria and Albert Museum has a long history of collecting photographs. In 1852, it became the first museum to do so, and in 1858, it was the first to exhibit them. This was part of an effort to make more resources available to artists and students. You can learn more about this style by looking up the movement: Impressionism.

The story of this work

Overview

A bas-relief fragment in terra cotta depicts a female figure playing a pipe, created by Louise Laffon in 1864. The work was part of a series of 100 albumen photographs documenting sculptures, including marbles, terracottas, and bronzes, from the Campana Collection at the Musée Napoléon III in Paris. The Victoria and Albert Museum acquired five sets of these photographs in 1864, totaling 500 prints, through the agent Monsieur E. Cappe. Surviving examples of Laffon’s original gilded mounts bear the gender-neutral stamp "L. Laffon" along with the studio name "Photographie Lord Byron."

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