Andrea Bayer Deputy Director for Collections and Administration | The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Andrea Bayer Deputy Director for Collections and Administration | The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
An exhibition titled "The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910" is currently on display, offering a new perspective on the history of American photography. The event spans from the medium's inception in 1839 to the early 20th century and showcases pieces from The Met’s William L. Schaeffer Collection. Featured artists include renowned figures like Josiah Johnson Hawes, John Moran, Carleton Watkins, and Alice Austen, alongside works by lesser-known photographers from various American locales.
The collection displays a range of photographic formats, such as daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs, and cyanotypes. It aims to highlight the transformative impact of photography on America's self-perception during its rapid acceptance as a crucial cultural and artistic medium. Ralph Waldo Emerson reflected this sentiment in 1835, even before photography's official unveiling, observing, “Our Age is Ocular.”
The exhibition is funded by the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund and the Diane Carol Brandt Fund, with additional backing from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.
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