
A Study of Leaves
1864 · albumen print
image/sheet: 44.7 × 34 cm (17 5/8 × 13 3/8 in.)
mount: 68 × 53 cm (26 3/4 × 20 7/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art

Charles Aubry was a French photographer and painter active in the 1850s and 1860s who pioneered hand-colored photographic still lifes and botanical studies. Working during photography's earliest decades, he combined daguerreotype and albumen print processes with careful hand-coloring to achieve subtle tonal effects and naturalistic detail. His practice bridged the technical experimentation and artistic ambitions of mid-nineteenth-century France, treating photographic documentation and painted enhancement as complementary rather than opposed methods.
Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 25d ago