The Town of Balaklava

Artist Roger Fenton (English, 1819 - 1869)

Date1855

MediumSalt print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 11 1/8 × 14 3/16 inches (28.26 × 36.04 cm)
Mount: 20 × 25 1/4 inches (50.8 × 64.14 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2005.37.361

SignedAttributed on mount recto, bottom, printed in black type: "Photographed by R. Fenton Manchester, Published by T. Agnew & Sons, Jan. 1st, 1856. / London P&D Colnaghi & Co Paris , Moulin, 23, Rue Richer. New York Williams & Co."

InscribedOn mount recto, lower right, in black ink: "The Town of Balaklava."

MarkingsOn mount recto, lower left, printed in black type: "Depose. / No. 93."; On mount recto, bottom, in pencil: "F444"; On mount verso, lower left, in pencil: "30602.44".

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a sloping hillside leading to a town at the base. In the foreground, figures stand outside of a stone house with two horses nearby.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Rotation 6. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 13 – December 7, 2009, no cat.

Rotation 11. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, September 17, 2011 – March 18, 2012, no cat.

Rotation 23. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, January 18 – May 28, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label

This image was made during Roger Fenton’s time in Crimea recording the war of England, France, and Turkey against Russia. Working in a mobile darkroom, Fenton made some 360 photographs in all—the first extensive use of the camera to document war. Fenton photographed battlegrounds, fortifications, artfully posed groups of officers, and, as seen here, the harbor of Balaklava. His images did not show actual fighting; by the nature of his process, Fenton worked slowly and far from danger.

Provenance

Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2005;
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

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