Switzerland. Grindelwald, Upper Glacier, Source of the Lutschine (1875–77): Art, History and Details

Switzerland. Grindelwald, Upper Glacier, Source of the Lutschine (1875–77) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Adolphe Braun (French, 1812–1877).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Braun's photographs often bore a stylistic resemblance to realist painting in France. Photography was an important factor in the evolution of realism, a style that was then gaining popularity. With its forthright depiction of natural forces, this photograph of a river springing from a glacier clearly recalls landscape paintings by Gustave Courbet (1819–1877). Courbet's numerous river scenes were contemporary with Braun's work and were part of the aesthetic context of the time.

Object facts

• Title: Switzerland. Grindelwald, Upper Glacier, Source of the Lutschine
• Date: 1875–77
• Creator attribution: Adolphe Braun (French, 1812–1877)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: Carbon print, toned, from wet collodion negative
• Dimensions: Image: 38.7 x 48.3 cm (15 1/4 x 19 in.); Paper: 40 x 50.7 cm (15 3/4 x 19 15/16 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 71.1 cm (22 x 28 in.); Framed: 59.1 x 74.3 cm (23 1/4 x 29 1/4 in.)
• Collection: PH - French 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 1992.237

Collection credit

The A. W. Ellenberger, Sr., Endowment Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.