ticketsMember | Make a donation

[Landscape with Cottage]

1844
Not on view
In the first decade of photography the overwhelming majority of daguerreotypes were portraits, as the complicated procedures required to produce these astonishingly detailed images on silver-plated sheets of copper were best carried out under the controlled conditions of the studio. A few adventurous travelers carried daguerreotype equipment with them and brought home dazzling records of far-off churches, castles, and classical ruins and, more rarely, of landscape and vernacular architecture. Seldom did they self-consciously strive for art. This full-plate daguerreotype, the first important French photograph of the 1840s to enter the Museum's collection, is one such rarity.


Made during an excursion through eastern France just five years after the daguerreotype's invention, this remarkable picture demonstrates how the camera prompted artists to see and represent the world in new ways. Rather than employing pictorial devices or perspectival and atmospheric effects rooted in the traditions of landscape painting, Choiselat and Ratel emphasized the two-dimensional organization of the picture's surface. The poplars, reflected in the water, seem to stretch across the plate from top to bottom instead of sitting on the far side of the pond; the cottage (perhaps a rustic pleasure house for the château beyond) forms, with its reflection, a single geometric solid floating in space.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: [Landscape with Cottage]
  • Artist: Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat (French, 1815–1858)
  • Artist: Stanislas Ratel (French, 1824–1904)
  • Date: 1844
  • Medium: Daguerreotype
  • Dimensions: 16.4 x 21.7 cm (6 7/16 x 8 9/16 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Louis V. Bell Fund, 1994
  • Object Number: 1994.417
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Défilé sur le Pont-Royal, Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat French, Daguerreotype
Défilé sur le Pont-Royal
Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat
Stanislas Ratel
May 1, 1844
[The Pavillon de Flore and the Tuileries Gardens], Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat French, Daguerreotype
[The Pavillon de Flore and the Tuileries Gardens]
Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat
Stanislas Ratel
1849
[Two Standing Female Nudes], Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin French, Daguerreotype
[Two Standing Female Nudes]
Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin
ca. 1850
[The Salon of Baron Gros], Baron Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gros French, Daguerreotype
[The Salon of Baron Gros]
Baron Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gros
1850–57
Château de St.-Germain-en-Laye, Intérieur de la cour, Chapelle, Médéric Mieusement French, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Château de St.-Germain-en-Laye, Intérieur de la cour, Chapelle
Médéric Mieusement
1862–67

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Marie-Charles-Isidore Choiselat - [Landscape with Cottage] - The Metropolitan Museum of Art