Henri Le Secq

Dieppe – The Artists – Le Secq, Henri

This page forms part of a series of pages dedicated to the many artists who painted in Dieppe. A full list of all the artists with a link to their works can be found at the bottom of this page.

Henri Le Secq
Henri Le Secq

Movement(s): Photography

Jean-Louis-Henri Le Secq des Tournelles (1818 – 1882) was a French painter and photographer. After the French government made the daguerreotype open for public in 1839, Le Secq was one of the five photographers selected to carry out a photographic survey of architecture (Commission des Monuments Historiques).

Jean-Louis-Henri Le Secq des Tournelles was born in Paris, of an ancient noble family from Normandy. His father was a politician. Jean-Louis-Henri was trained in sculpture and worked in several studios. He was also a collector of wrought iron objects and the Musee le Secq des Tournelles in Rouen is devoted to him.

He started his photographic career while still working as a painter in the studio of Paul Delaroche.

He experimented with various photograph processing techniques together with his colleague Charles Negre and later worked with Gustave Le Gray learning the waxed-paper negative process. This process had the advantage that it produced negatives unlike the daguerreotype process.

He, along with Hippolyte Bayard, Edouard Baldus, Gustave Le Gray and Auguste Mestral (O. Mestral), was sent on Missions Heliographiques to document famous architectural monuments in France.

He worked mainly on cathedrals in Chartres, Strasbourg, Reims and near Paris. Cameras capable of taking large photographs, sized up to 51 cm by 74 cm, were used. His works during this Commission des Monuments Historiques are considered his finest.

In 1851 he became one of the founders of the first photographic organization of the world, the Societe heliographique (1851–1853), which was very short lived.

Le Secq des Tournelles gave up photography after 1856 but continued to paint and collect art. Around 1870 he started reprinting his famous works as cyanotypes because he was afraid of possible loss due to fading. He gave the reprints the dates of the original negatives, some of which are still in good condition.

Click here to read Le Secq’s full bio on Wikipedia.

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NOTE: A black box like this one, means that there is an explanation text about today’s situation of the painting above it.
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1851 - Henri Le Secq - Boat at the dock in the port of Dieppe
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Boat at the dock in the port of Dieppe
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Boats in the port of Dieppe
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Boats in the port of Dieppe
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Cliffs near Dieppe
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Cliffs near Dieppe
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Cliffs near Dieppe
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Cliffs near Dieppe
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Dieppe, bow and masts of a ship in the port
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Dieppe, bow and masts of a ship in the port
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Dieppe, the Saint Remy tower of the castle
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Dieppe, the Saint Remy tower of the castle
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Dieppe. The jetties at the entrance to the port and the cliff
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Dieppe. The jetties at the entrance to the port and the cliff

TODAY: This is the place where today’s ferry to the UK is moored.

1851 - Henri Le Secq - Gable house
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Gable house
1851 - Henri Le Secq - The port of Dieppe at low tide
1851 – Henri Le Secq – The port of Dieppe at low tide
1851 - Henri Le Secq - Two fishing boats on the dry in the port of Dieppe
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Two fishing boats on the dry in the port of Dieppe
1855 - Henri Le Secq - Boats at Dieppe
1855 – Henri Le Secq – Boats at Dieppe
1855 - Henri Le Secq - Boats at Dieppe
1855 – Henri Le Secq – Boats at Dieppe

Arques-la-Bataille

The town of Arques-la-Bataille (population: 2,700) is located close to Dieppe towards the South (inland). It’s a town dominated by the ruins of a major castle.

1851 - Henri Le Secq - Ruins of the castle of Arques la Bataille
1851 – Henri Le Secq – Ruins of the castle of Arques la Bataille

TODAY: Despite several attempts to restore this imposing castle, it’s still in ruins, but can be visited;

Le Secq made his photos (and paintings) all over France. Here are many of the places where he worked (a link “⇠” to his works will appear here when published):

  • Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    • Auxerre
    • Montmort
    • Sens
  • Centre-Val de Loire
    • Chartres
  • Grand Est
    • La Porte-du-Der
    • Langres
    • Marmoutier
    • Molsheim
    • Montmirail
    • Reims
    • Rosheim
    • Strasbourg
    • Troyes
  • Hauts-de-France
  • Normandy
  • Pays de la Loire
    • L’Epine

Dieppe in Normandy was a popular place for artists to come and apply their art. Here is a list, non exhaustive, of the artists that painted in Dieppe.

A link (“⇠”) to the artist’s works will appear when published (a “*” indicates that the artist did not work directly in Dieppe, instead worked in nearby villages):

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Today: The Ferry
Today: The Ferry
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