Provenance
Nègre Family Collection
Joseph Nègre, great grandson of the artist
Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, 1993
Catalogue Essay
An additional print of this image is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Few 19th-century photographers were as attuned to the aesthetic use of light as Charles Nègre. He used it as a compositional element in many of his pictures, especially those made in the courtyard of his Quai de Bourbon studio on the Ile Saint-Louis, where he knew well the progression of sunlight throughout the day. In this self-portrait, he has incorporated sunlight as a bold diagonal device: the light intersects the window edges, the billowing, draped fabric, and the doorway behind him, uniting the disparate planes of the background. It is a testament to Nègre’s technical proficiency that he was able to photograph a scene of extreme tonal values—deep shadows and sun-drenched highlights—and maintain a high level of detail throughout.

This image was made with a glass negative and illustrates Nègre’s proficiency with this relatively new process. He had previously achieved remarkable results with the paper negative (see Lot 31), but his transition to glass allowed him to explore light fully as an aesthetic element in his pictures. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the bravura image offered here.

Nègre was known primarily for his documentation of France’s architectural patrimony, his sensitive portraits, and his genre scenes. Self-Portrait in Orientalist Costume is somewhat of an outlier within his photographic oeuvre. Nègre was originally trained as a painter, and in this self-portrait he adopts the then-fashionable trope of the exotic Eastern costume, a reflection of the rage for Orientalism that swept through much of Europe in the 19th century. Other photographers, among them Roger Fenton and Francis Frith, made portraits of themselves in Eastern dress, but in a controlled indoor setting. In the photograph offered here, Nègre has risen to the challenge of stepping outside the studio, and using the direct light of the sun to delineate and define his Orientalist garb.

38

Charles Nègre

Self-Portrait in Orientalist Costume

circa 1860
Albumen print, mounted.
7 3/4 x 5 3/8 in. (19.7 x 13.7 cm)

Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000

Sold for $37,500

Contact Specialist
Caroline Deck
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairman, Americas

General Enquiries:
+1 212 940 1245

The Odyssey of Collecting: Photographs from Joy of Giving Something Foundation, Part 1

New York 3 April 2017

1
Ansel Adams
Yosemite Valley
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $28,750
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2
Charles Sheeler
Boulder Dam
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
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3
Alfred Stieglitz
From ‘Room 3003’ - The Shelton, New York, Looking Northeast
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
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4
Frederick Sommer
Colorado River Landscape
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $40,000
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5
Albert Renger-Patzsch
Spätherbst im Fichtenwald
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $27,500
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6
Willi Ruge
Berlin Fallschirmspringer from I Photograph Myself During a Parachute Jump
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $65,000
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7
Imogen Cunningham
Hand Weaving with Hand
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $30,000
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8
László Moholy-Nagy
Photogram studies for Goerz (negative and positive)
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
Sold for $212,500
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9
Robert Heinecken
Jack Jones and the Lennon Sisters #1
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $37,500
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10
László Moholy-Nagy
Photogram
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
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11
Josef Sudek
The Third Courtyard of Prague Castle
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $61,250
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12
Eugène Atget
Boutique Coiffeur, Boulevard de Strasbourg
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $125,000
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13
André Kertész
Paris (night scene)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
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14
William Henry Fox Talbot
Oxford High Street
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $56,250
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15
Alfred Stieglitz
The Terminal
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
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16
Harry Callahan
Detroit
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $43,750
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17
Idris Khan
Bach. . . . Six Suites for the Solo Cello
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $50,000
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18
Zhang Huan
Family Tree
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
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19
Masahisa Fukase
Kanazawa from Ravens
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000
Sold for $37,500
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20
Alfred Stieglitz
Lake George
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
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21
Charles Marville
Sky Study, Paris
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $22,500
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22
Gustave Le Gray
Troncs d’Arbres, Fontainebleau
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $200,000
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23
Charles Aubry
Untitled (study of leaves)
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $137,500
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24
Henri-Victor Regnault
Sèvres et ses environs, Manufacture, Porte orientale et cours d'Honneur
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $125,000
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25
Edward Steichen
The Spiral Shell
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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26
Edward Weston
White Sands, New Mexico
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $68,750
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27
Imogen Cunningham
Magnolia Blossom
Estimate $180,000 - 220,000
Sold for $162,500
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28
Laura Gilpin
Sand Dunes
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $25,000
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29
Gustave Le Gray
Cavalry Maneuvres, Camp de Châlons
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $106,250
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30
Carleton Watkins
Cape Horn, Columbia River
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $156,250
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31
Charles Nègre
Arles, Porte des Châtaignes
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $62,500
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32
Félix Teynard
Karnak (Thèbes), Palais - Salle Hypostyle - Vue Transversale Prise du Point K
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $105,000
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33
Margaret Bourke-White
Rosenbaum Grain Elevators, Chicago, IL. (Our "temple view")
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $27,500
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34
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Grain Elevators
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $50,000
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35
Henri Cartier-Bresson
At the Curragh Racecourse Near Dublin
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $32,500
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36
Josef Koudelka
Romania
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $30,000
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37
Bill Brandt
Francis Bacon, Primrose Hill
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $40,000
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38
Charles Nègre
Self-Portrait in Orientalist Costume
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $37,500
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39
Julia Margaret Cameron
Sappho (Mary Hillier)
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $40,000
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40
Edward Steichen
Chéruit Gown (Marion Morehouse) (Mrs. E.E. Cummings)
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $50,000
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41
Peter Hujar
Chloe Finch
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $21,250
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42
Robert Frank
New York City Candy Store, 86th Street
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $75,000
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43
Roy DeCarava
Catsup Bottles, Table and Coat, New York
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
Sold for $20,000
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The Odyssey of Collecting: Photographs from Joy...

New York 3 April 2017

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

38

Charles Nègre

Self-Portrait in Orientalist Costume

The Odyssey of Collecting: Photographs from Joy of Giving Something Foundation, Part 1

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