2004-289: Vénus par Legros, Versailles

In just over three decades, the French photographer Eugène Atget made ten thousand photographic negatives that documented the cultural legacy of France and its rapidly changing capital, Paris. Atget considered himself a documentary photographer and marketed his services to artists, architects, libraries, and museums. His diverse portfolio included images of parks, such as this view of the gardens at Versailles. He did not receive widespread recognition until the 1920s, when the American photographer Berenice Abbott published many of his images and championed his work.