Medinet Habu, Entrance to the Second Courtyard

Original Language TitleMédinet Habou, Entrée de la Seconde Cour

Artist John Beasley Greene (American, born France, 1832 - 1856)

Date1854

MediumSalt print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 9 1/4 × 11 7/8 inches (23.5 × 30.16 cm)
Mount: 18 1/2 × 24 3/16 inches (46.99 × 61.44 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.242

Signednone

Inscribednone

MarkingsOn mount recto, upper left corner, in pencil: "";A On mount verso, upper left, in pencil: "GAL" / "MEDINET HABOU / ENTREE DE LA SECONDE COUR / MASSIF DE GAUCHE" , "J.35. (W.H.G)" / "CF Verso Orienta (BEATO) r. 32 / JAMMES r.316" / " PSY".

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a stone facade with a carved relief and inscriptions on the left and a dark rectangular opening on the right.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Developing Greatness: the Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 - December 30, 2007, 156 (repro).

Exploring Egypt: 19^th Century Expeditionary Photography. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 6 - July 18, 2010, no cat.

Gallery Label

John Beasly Greene was born in France to American parents who had recently moved from Boston. Greene had a deep interest in both archaeology and photography. He made several trips to the Middle East between 1852 and 1856 to photograph and to conduct excavations. A master of the calotype (or paper-negative) technique, Greene made photographs that are, by turns, bold, dynamic and minimal. This genius of photography died in 1856 at the age of only 24.

Published References

Rachel Topham, John Beasly Greene (M.A. thesis, Ryerson University, 2006); Bruno Jammes, "John B. Greene, An American Calotypist," History of Photography 5:4 (October 1981): 305-24; Kathleen Stewart Howe, Excursions Along the Nile: The Photographic Discovery of Ancient Egypt (Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1993): 28-29, 45, 64; "Notice by Greene," Photographic and Fine Art Journal 7:10 (October 1854): 320.

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