Past Exhibition

The Pre-Raphaelite Lens: British Photography and Painting, 1848–1875

This sepia-toned photograph depicts a young woman sitting in a slightly reclined position, facing the left, with her head and torso propped up on pillows against the back of a chair. She has pale skin and long, dark, curly hair flowing down her shoulders. Her eyes are closed, and her mouth appears partially open. She wears a long, light-colored garment and sits with her hands in her lap. Her legs seem to be covered by a long cloth or a blanket, but her knees seem to be bent. The background features a dark textured curtain or wall, with some indistinct objects in the lower right corner. The lighting is soft, illuminating the woman while the rest of the room is in shadow.
Henry Peach Robinson, She Never Told Her Love, 1857, albumen silver print, Paul Mellon Fund, 2007.29.40

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Building, Ground Floor, Inner Tier Galleries G31 through G34
This sepia-toned photograph depicts a young woman sitting in a slightly reclined position, facing the left, with her head and torso propped up on pillows against the back of a chair. She has pale skin and long, dark, curly hair flowing down her shoulders. Her eyes are closed, and her mouth appears partially open. She wears a long, light-colored garment and sits with her hands in her lap. Her legs seem to be covered by a long cloth or a blanket, but her knees seem to be bent. The background features a dark textured curtain or wall, with some indistinct objects in the lower right corner. The lighting is soft, illuminating the woman while the rest of the room is in shadow.
Henry Peach Robinson, She Never Told Her Love, 1857, albumen silver print, Paul Mellon Fund, 2007.29.40

Overview: 95 photographs, 10 paintings, 12 works on paper, and 9 volumes were shown in this exhibition, which chronicled the relationship between painting and the new medium of photography in Britain from 1848 to 1875. Included were photographs by Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron, Roger Fenton, and Henry Peach Robinson and paintings by John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rosetti, among others. Works in the exhibition were from the collection of the National Gallery of Art and loans from public and private collections in Britain and the United States. The exhibition was organized in thematic sections on landscape, portraiture, literary and historical narratives, and modern-life subjects.

Exhibition curator Diane Waggoner presented the lecture "Uncompromising Truth: British Photography and Pre-Raphaelitism" on November 21, followed by a book signing of the catalog. New York Chamber Soloists presented a concert of works by British composers on November 3 in honor of the exhibition. A public symposium, "Truth to Nature: British Photography and Pre-Raphaelitism," with lectures by David Coleman, Duncan Forbes, Laura Henrickson, Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, and Malcolm Warner, was held on January 22.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with the Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Diane Waggoner, associate curator of the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, was curator.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible through the support of the Trellis Fund and the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation and Marcella and Neil Cohen. Early support for research was provided by the Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation. The exhibition was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 46,416 (92 days)

Catalog: The Pre-Raphaelite Lens: British Photography and Painting, 1848–1875, by Diane Waggoner et al. Washington: National Gallery of Art in association with Lund Humphries, Surrey, UK, 2010.

Other Venues:

  • Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 03/06/2011–05/29/2011

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