Paris, Les Halles Market, circa 1940 - Silver Gelatin B & W Photography

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Description

A unique original silver gelatin black and white photography, Paris, The Halles Market view circa 1940.
Features:
Original silver gelatin … Read more A unique original silver gelatin black and white photography, Paris, The Halles Market view circa 1940.
Features:
Original silver gelatin print photography unframed.
Press photography
Press agency: KEYSTONE VIEW CO, Paris
Photographer: Anonymous
Title: Paris, The Halles, circa 1940
Provenance: Private collection
Image Size: 3.15 in. high (8.1 cm) x 4.33 in. wide (11.6 cm) - Archivally matted in a 17 in. x 13 in. mat.
A typed caption at the back reads "Paris 1er ardt, Les Halles" (Paris, 1st Arrondissement, The Halles Market).
The piece will be shipped in a mat (17 x 13 in.) that fits a standard-sized frame.

About:
Les Halles, was Paris's central fresh food market. It was demolished in 1971 and replaced by the Westfield Forum des Halles, a modern shopping mall built largely underground and directly connected to the RER and métro transit hub.
In the 11th Century, a market grew up by a cemetery to the northwest of Paris in an area called the Little Fields (Champeaux). This was mainly a dry good and money-changing market.
In 1183, Philip Augustus took full control of the market and built two market halls (Halles) to protect the textiles. When he then built walls around the city of Paris, these embraced the market, which quickly became the city's largest (and, over time, went from being at the edge of the city to at its center). Officially, it would remain a dry goods market for centuries, but food stalls soon grew up around the main buildings and by the 15th Century food prices at Les Halles were being cited as significant for the whole city. The market would have ups and downs over the coming centuries and was rebuilt more than once. Over time, an increasing number of halls were built explicitly for food.
Unable to compete in the new market economy and need of massive repairs, the colorful ambiance once associated with the bustling area of merchant stalls disappeared in 1971, when Les Halles was dismantled; the wholesale market was relocated to the suburb of Rungis. Two of the glass and cast iron market pavilions were dismantled and re-erected elsewhere; one in the Paris suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne, the other in Yokohama, Japan.
(Credit: Wikipedia). See less