Parc de Saint-Cloud

Drawn to the masses of dark foliage and the abstract quality of the staircase, Eugène Atget photographed this spot on the left bank of the Seine River repeatedly, beginning in 1904. During the 1600s, orange groves flanked either side of these stairs, which were once part of a royal estate. After the château that had occupied these grounds burned in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the gardens were all that survived.

The absence of children or other pedestrians leisurely enjoying the park imparts a sense of solitude and loneliness to the image. Atget intended that his photographs be used as source material for artists of all mediums. This empty park would have provided a simple background, like a stage set, for an artist to copy and then enliven with the addition of figures.