Gustave de Beaucorps

Gustave de Beaucorps was a photographer whose active period spanned the decade from 1850 to 1859. Although specific biographical data is limited, the surviving six photographs document significant travel across the Mediterranean and North Africa, suggesting the artist participated in the established tradition of early topographical and architectural photography.

Beaucorps's body of work captures scenes of significant classical and historical interest, focusing on documentation and portraiture. The known photographs illustrate journeys across Italy and Algeria, including the works Salerno, Italy and the important Roman views Spanish Steps, Rome and Rome, Vue Prise au Forum (Rome, View of the Forum). His North African output includes the genre scenes Algerian Woman and Palace Algeria.

A small, museum-quality representation of Beaucorps's photographs is preserved across three major American institutions, confirming their historical significance. These works are held in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Art. Today, historic Gustave de Beaucorps prints frequently enter the public domain, making high-quality prints of his scarce nineteenth-century work accessible to researchers and collectors.