France’s first generation of paper-negative photographers included a few painters, who pioneered the medium’s use as a graphic art, akin to sketching and printmaking. Charles Nègre also used his camera to document works he submitted to salons of painting. Here, his imposingly framed subject is Le quartier des Moulins (Musée d’ Art et d' Histoire de Provence, Grasse), a variation on his more famous 1852 photograph of the same view (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
Charles Nègre, Oil Presses at Grasse, ca. 1855, albumen print from glass negative. Purchased as the gift of Christopher Scholz. 2016.21.