Print Date: circa 1990, printed by the artist
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Edition: 26/30 PF
Signature: Signed by the artist lower right on recto; inscribed, dated, titled, located, editioned, and copyright-noted by the artist on verso
Verso Inscription:
With handwritten notations including "Nu de la plage / Camargue / 1972 / ref. 141/21 / ex 26/30 PF" and copyright / no-reproduction / printing notes by Lucien Clergue
Nu de la plage belongs to Lucien Clergue's most iconic beach nude imagery. Set against the light and terrain of the Camargue shoreline, the body is transformed from a literal nude into a structure of curves, shadows, and rhythms. The shimmer of water, the edge of sand, and the contour of flesh echo one another so closely that the figure becomes almost topographical-an abstract landscape shaped by light. Works of this kind are among the key images through which Clergue established his mature style and expanded the formal possibilities of nude photography in the second half of the twentieth century.
Lucien Clergue (1934-2014) was one of the major French photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. Born in Arles, he remained deeply connected throughout his life to both the city and the landscape of the Camargue. His work spans nudes, beach nudes, bullfighting, Mediterranean landscapes, portraits of artists, and artist's books, and is especially noted for transforming the body, the shoreline, light, and curvature into a highly formal and poetic black-and-white language. In 1955, he met Pablo Picasso and developed a lasting friendship with him; he also maintained close ties with literature, music, theatre, and the visual arts, which gave his photography a distinctly interdisciplinary character.

In 1970, Clergue worked with Michel Tournier and Jean-Maurice Rouquette to launch the Rencontres d'Arles, helping turn Arles into one of the world's major centers of photographic culture. In 2006, he entered the photography section of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, becoming the first photographer elected to that dedicated seat, and in 2013 he served as President of the Academie. As an artist, publisher, and cultural advocate, Clergue not only shaped a major strand of postwar French art photography through his own images, but also left a lasting mark on the history of photography in Arles and in Europe more broadly.