Vrouw met een bloemenmand in een tuin met bloemen before 1899

This photogravure by Robert Demachy shows a woman with a flower basket in a flower garden. Demachy was a leading figure in the Pictorialist movement, who worked in Europe and North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pictorialists thought that photography should be considered as art. They embraced the soft focus and printing processes that gave the image painterly effects. The image is sepia-toned, making it look like a drawing or painting. Demachy lived through an important transition, as photography was becoming more available to the public at large. This changed the way it was perceived and affected the status of photography as art. Some considered photography as a tool for recording only. Figures such as Demachy sought to establish photography as a form of fine art. By employing an aesthetic that mimicked painting, the photograph could enter artistic institutions. Research into the development of photography and debates around its status can shed light on the history of art institutions.