With smoke enveloping the entire composition, a worker loads lime from a kiln into a large horse-drawn dray. The work is wrongly attributed on the mount to Edmond Misonne, as the print itself used to make this reproduction bears Léonard Misonne’s signature at lower right. Edmond Misonne, (1890-1945) was the artist’s nephew.

Léonard Misonne: 1870-1943

Léonard Misonne  was a Belgian pictorialist photographer. He is known for his landscapes and street scenes with atmospheric skies.

Photography: Misonne is best known for his atmospheric photographs of landscapes and street scenes, with light as a key feature, and as a pioneer of pictorialism. According to the Directory of Belgian Photographers, “Misonne’s work is characterised by a masterly treatment of light and atmospheric conditions. His images express poetic qualities, but sometimes slip into an anecdotal sentimentality.” He was nicknamed “the Corot of photography”.

Misonne devoted himself to photography from 1896, joining the Belgian Photography Association in 1897. He became a leading light in pictorialism, frequently exhibiting his photographs at exhibitions. He also did slide shows. Much of his photography was in Belgium and the Netherlands, but he also visited London, France, Germany and Switzerland. The German occupation of Belgium during World War II greatly restricted his photography.- Wikipedia (2024)

Additional historical as well as exhibition history for Léonard Misonne can be found courtesy of the Directory of Belgian Photographers hosted online by Fotomuseum Antwerp. (FOMU)