[Family Group]

Trained as a painter in the studio of Paul Delaroche, Nègre became, after 1844, one of the era's most skilled photographers, known for his elegant views of France's architectural patrimony. Here, however, the artist reveals his equally refined skills as a sensitive portraitist. Negre's portraits were almost always made outdoors and are characterized by a simple, nearly snapshot quality reminiscent of his early genre work in painting.

Credit: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke Gift, 2005