Artwork Page for Algerian Woman

Details / Information for Algerian Woman

Algerian Woman

late 1850s

Gustave de Beaucorps

(French, 1825–1906)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
albumen print from wet collodion negative
Measurements
Image: 21.3 x 15.4 cm (8 3/8 x 6 1/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1997.45
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

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Description

In some Muslim cultures, portrait photographs were commissioned of women who were completely veiled. However, given that De Beaucorps was a wealthy amateur photographer and art collector, he probably initiated the sitting to document the local costume. After studying photography with Gustave Le Gray in Paris, De Beaucorps photographed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 1857 and 1861.
A vertically oriented, sepia-toned albumen print depicts a full-length portrait of a woman with medium-light skin tone who faces us. She is shrouded in a heavy, light-colored textile that covers her body and lower face, leaving only her eyes visible. She wears a tall, wide-brimmed straw hat. The coarse fabric falls in long vertical folds to the ground. She stands centered against a plain, neutral background.

Algerian Woman

late 1850s

Gustave de Beaucorps

(French, 1825–1906)
France, 19th century

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