Eight sold, yielding a hammer total of Fr2.78m (£265,000), and a top score of Fr1.2m (£114,000) for Le Hêtre (The Beech Tree, c.1855-56), at 121/2x 161/4in (32 x 41.4cm) a slightly larger version than that in the Jammes Collection sold by Sotheby’s for £380,000 in 1999.
Hollow Tree in the Forest of Fontainebleau (c.1855-56) rated Fr450,000 (£42,900) and a View of the Forest of Fontainebleau (c.1852) took Fr300,000 (£28,600), but perhaps the most interesting print was Groupe Près de l’Etang, shown here, depicting a group of figures by a small lake, taken during Le Gray’s visit to the army base near Châlons-sur-Marne in September 1857. The print measured 111/2 by 133/4in (29 x 35cm) and included figures on the extreme left that do not appear in other known versions. It sold over estimate for Fr430,000 (£41,000).
Photographs
PARIS: An ensemble of nine photographs by Gustave Le Gray, all albumen paper prints from collodion or paper negatives from the collection of chemist Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran (who discovered the metal gallium), surfaced at Millon & Associés on December 3.
