The simultaneous advent of photography in Britain and France in the 19th century makes for a fascinating study of the two countries’ early photographic explorations in a new exhibition at the Boston MFA titled ‘Silver, Salt, and Sunlight: Early Photography in Britain and France.’

During this period, artists slowly expanded on the visual language that painting and sculpture had established, first applying their new medium to landscapes and portraiture and then exploring the camera’s unique accuracy and instantaneous capabilities. Gustave Le Gray’s ‘Cloudy Sky–The Mediterranean with Mount Agde’ approaches the grandeur of a Turner landscape without the exaggerated colors, and Nadar’s ‘The Apostle Preacher Jean Journet’ is all the more breathtaking for proving that men like Zurbarán’s ‘St. Francis of Assisi’ really exist.

According to the museum, the exhibition “will feature some of the Museum’s great early rarities, as well as the debut of the MFA’s recent acquisition an 1873 photograph by Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll.”

‘Silver, Salt, and Sunlight: Early Photography in Britain and France’ will be on display February 7–August 19, 2012 at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02115.

James Rosenquist and Ed Ruscha are among the artists talking about their work for posterity

By Erica Cooke. Museums, Issue 230, December 2011
Published online: 08 December 2011

http://www.theartnewspaper.com

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will reinstall James Rosenquist’s F-111, 1964-65, recreating the way it was first installed in Leo Castelli’s Upper East Side gallery in 1965. Due to be unveiled shortly (the exact date has not yet been confirmed), the event complements the New York museum’s oral history project. MoMA’s curators and archivists are interviewing artists alongside their work in the collection. In addition to recording Rosenquist alongside F-111, they plan to interview Ed Ruscha and Vito Acconci. Dan Graham, Yvonne Rainer and Vija Celmins have already been interviewed.

The museum has collected oral histories for more than 20 years, but the 90 interviews in its archive primarily document “the machinations of the institution”, says Michelle Elligott, MoMA’s senior archivist, who is leading the institution’s Artist Oral History Initiative. The new project aims “to increase our understanding of artists’ ideas, intentions, working methods and specifically the materials and any sort of history or context that goes along with these products,” says Elligott. The project, which has a year’s initial funding thanks to an anonymous donor, began in the spring. If further funding is secured, the museum hopes to interview more artists on its 30-strong shortlist.
Read the rest of this entry »