As one of Gustave Le Gray's most famous sea and sky images, La Grande Vague is also one of the nineteenth-century master photographer's most sought-after prints. It is a stunning example of the pioneering negative combination technique Le Gray used to create single, harmonious exposures of the seascape.

One of the most important photographers of the nineteenth century, Le Gray remains a strong secondary market force, and this sublime image has continued to fetch high prices. The technical innovation realised in La Grande Vague was unprecedented in 1857, around which time Le Gray produced many of his famed maritime views. Up until this point, material limitations prevented an exposure that captured both the sea and sky in a single image. Le Gray was able to unite each by combining two separate negatives at the horizon line, creating striking images that rendered the view as was seen to the naked eye.

Prints of this image are also held in the collections of the Bibliothéque Nationale de France, Paris, the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

The image's market history certainly reflects its significance. In 1999, a print of this image set the world-record price for a singular photograph sold at auction - previously belonging Marie-Therese and Andre Jammes, it was sold during the first instalment of the Jammes Collection sale at Sotheby's for £507,500 ($838,000).