The influence of early photography on painting

[r.e.]

http://www.economist.com/node/21540216

Exhibit is currently in Amsterdam, moving to Washington and Indianapolis in the new year.

[Jay DeFehr]

r.e.,

Thanks for posting the link. This exhibition reflects on a rather advanced stage of the collaboration of man and machine in the visual arts, and it is the evolution of the collaboration that interests me. Distinguishing between painters and photographers seems trivial, to me.

[r.e.]

r.e.,

Thanks for posting the link. This exhibition reflects on a rather advanced stage of the collaboration of man and machine in the visual arts, and it is the evolution of the collaboration that interests me. Distinguishing between painters and photographers seems trivial, to me.

Jay, interesting point. I just picked up on The Economist's sub-head. The way you put it, one approach to The Economist review, and this show, is to have in mind David Hockney's (controversial) views on the camera obscura.

[Jay DeFehr]

Sadly, I don't know in enough detail about the timeline or diffusion of camera obscura adoption by painters to know how accurate Hockney's assertions are, but I think the controversy can only be one of degree. Even painters who never adopted the camera obscura have been influenced by those who did, so the machine gets folded into the memetic fabric, and teasing it out later is too complex to do with any sense of certainty or accuracy, so that one settles for a threshold assessment, by which painters working before the advent of the camera obscura are the only ones certainly free of its influence.

[cdholden]

http://www.economist.com/node/21540216

Exhibit is currently in Amsterdam, moving to Washington and Indianapolis in the new year.

“Snapshot: Painters and Photography 1888-1915” is at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, until January 8th 2012. It will be displayed at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, from February 4th until May 6th and at the Indianapolis Museum of Art from June 3rd until September 2nd.

I've been to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It is larger than I expected. It's a great way to spend an afternoon, or maybe even into an early evening. I get to Indy a couple of times a year. I look forward to scheduling one of my trips to IN to include another visit to IMA.