Prosperine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874, oil on canvas - The Odor of Pomegranates by Zaida Ben-Yusuf, 1899, Photogravure on paper
Tate Britain, London presents: Painting with Light Art and Photography from the Pre-Raphaelites to the modern age exhibition running from 11 May-25 September 2016.
This is the first major exhibition to celebrate the spirited conversation between early photography and British art. It brings together photographs and paintings including Pre-Raphaelite, Aesthetic and British impressionist works.
Spanning 75 years across the Victorian and Edwardian ages, the exhibition opens with the experimental beginnings of photography in dialogue with painters such as J.M.W. Turner. For the first time works by painters John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and John Singer Sargent will be shown alongside ravishing photographs by pivotal early photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron, which they inspired and which inspired them.
exhibition catalogue featuring cover photograph
Decorative Study by Minna Keene, 1906
© Royal Photographic Society / National Media Museum/ Science & Society Picture Library
An exploration of the relationship between photography, painting and sculpture, from the 1840s to 1914
Photography was entangled with art from the very moment of its invention
by painter and printmaker Louis Daguerre in 1839. Painting with Light
is the first publication to explore photography's complex and
fascinating inter-relationship with painting and sculpture in the 19th
and early 20th centuries. Opening with the experimental beginnings of
the medium in the 1830s and 40s, the book covers the full range of
photography in Britain up to the early 1900s, concluding with its
flowering as a distinct art form in Pictorialism, which sought to
express emotional and imaginative states through the photographic image.
Spanning seventy-five years from the daguerreotype to very early colour
photography, the book explores pioneer photographers, the
Pre-Raphaelite circle and ravishing Symbolist and Pictorialist works,
including landscapes and life studies, documentary and scientific
realism, and images that experimented with atmospheric and psychological
effects. Organised chronologically, it features essays on the camera
before the1840s; David Octavius Hill's pioneering photography studio;
the connections between early photographic and artistic approaches to
nature; social realism; and anti-naturalism and the supernatural. It
uncovers the issues raised by exchanges between photography and other
media, many of them still live today, from the question of copying
versus creating and truth versus lies to artist versus machine and
tradition versus modernity. Mixing iconic and rarely seen works,
Photography into Art includes over one hundred illustrations accompanied
by refreshing new scholarship - making this the essential book for
collectors, gallery goers and photography enthusiasts alike
Tate Britain
Millbank, London SW1P 4RG,
United Kingdom
To purchase tickets to the exhibition or for more information, Painting with Light
9 comments:
Thanks Kimberly, this looks fantastic! I'll certainly visit it when I'm in London next month. A great post as always :)
Hi Nick,
I know you will have a fabulous time. Thank you for stopping by :)
Now that is a very clever idea! The first major exhibition to document the relationship between early photography and British art. And the timing is perfect: from the 1840s to 1914.
The question which direction the inspiration came from is one I still ponder today. Particularly from the Orientalist artists.
I completely agree Hels! I think about the relationship between the two often. Thanks so much for dropping by!
Wow Kimberly,
I love the Pre Raph's especially Rossetti.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Kevin,
Happy to know you are a Rossetti fan. Today is his birthday. I know you'll enjoy the exhibition!
Looking forward to going to the exhibition. I have to say that although I love Julia Margaret Cameron's work, I think the best stuff are the portraits of ordinary and famous people. I think there's a sort of dressing up box quality to some of the more complicated ones where she tries to mimic famous paintings or mythological stories, dressing up her husband and servants in various disguises. I think it shows the superiority of painting when it comes to telling a story especially something historical, classical or mythological.
Hi WoofWoof,
I understand your perspective about Cameron's photography and subject matter.In her own way, Mrs. Cameron was paying tribute to artists she viewed as 'immortals.' I hope you enjoy the exhibit. Have a wonderful time. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Kimberly, I went along to the exhibition on Monday. It is truly fantastic. It was so interesting to see how much interaction there was between artists and photographers in those early days, and how quickly photography became an art form, and how artists quickly started to use photography to aid them in their art. I do hope it transfers to North America so you get a chance to visit yourself. I got the book as well which is very good.
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