(Columbus, OH) – Discover the many ways photography has influenced painting at the Columbus Museum of Art. Shared Intelligence: American Painting and the Photograph, on view February 4 – April 24, 2011, explores the ways the two mediums intersect and spill into each other.
The painting and the photograph have had a long relationship in American art. After its invention in the 19th century, many believed photography, with its ability to quickly capture the world around us, would replace painting. However, rather than being replaced, painting immediately drew upon photography as a rich and complex source for innovation. While we might think immediately of photography’s ability to provide subject matter or a ready “sketch” for painters, the photograph’s role in American painting goes far beyond this relationship. Photographic seeing, the way the lens freezes, flattens, enlarges, and crops the world, has influenced nearly all visual representation from its invention to today. In turn, the exhibition will also consider the ways in which photography has itself been affected by its interaction with painting.
“I think this exhibition is exceptional not only for the way in which it considers the give and take between painting and photography, but also for the strength of the numerous iconic works it includes,” said Melissa Wolfe, CMA Associate Curator of American Art.
“This has been a very exciting project to work on, as it sheds new light on the interaction between painting and photography in American art,” said Barbara Buhler Lynes, Curator, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the Emily Fisher Landau Director, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center.
This exhibition of more than 75 paintings and photographs focuses on the work of American painters for whom the photograph has been essential, beginning with the acclaimed 19th century realist Thomas Eakins and continuing through to contemporary art, including such masters as Frederic Remington, Charles Sheeler, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, David Hockney, and Sherrie Levine. Major works by such ground-breaking photographers as Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, and Margaret Bourke-White will also be included.
“The relationship of painting to photography in American Art has been both anxious and highly productive,” said Jonathan Weinberg, art historian and author. “American artists as different as Eakins and Warhol, Remington and Flack, O’Keeffe and Close used the camera as a way to revitalize the practice of painting.”
Shared Intelligence was organized by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and co-curated by Barbara Buhler Lynes and Jonathan Weinberg Ph.D.
The Columbus Museum of Art creates great experiences with great art for everyone. The Columbus Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Nationwide Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council provide ongoing support. CMA and the Museum Store are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and until 8:30 PM every Thursday. The Palette Express is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For additional information, call 614.221.4848 or visit www.columbusmuseum.org.
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The painting and the photograph have had a long relationship in American art. After its invention in the 19th century, many believed photography, with its ability to quickly capture the world around us, would replace painting. However, rather than being replaced, painting immediately drew upon photography as a rich and complex source for innovation. While we might think immediately of photography’s ability to provide subject matter or a ready “sketch” for painters, the photograph’s role in American painting goes far beyond this relationship. Photographic seeing, the way the lens freezes, flattens, enlarges, and crops the world, has influenced nearly all visual representation from its invention to today. In turn, the exhibition will also consider the ways in which photography has itself been affected by its interaction with painting.
“I think this exhibition is exceptional not only for the way in which it considers the give and take between painting and photography, but also for the strength of the numerous iconic works it includes,” said Melissa Wolfe, CMA Associate Curator of American Art.
“This has been a very exciting project to work on, as it sheds new light on the interaction between painting and photography in American art,” said Barbara Buhler Lynes, Curator, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the Emily Fisher Landau Director, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center.
This exhibition of more than 75 paintings and photographs focuses on the work of American painters for whom the photograph has been essential, beginning with the acclaimed 19th century realist Thomas Eakins and continuing through to contemporary art, including such masters as Frederic Remington, Charles Sheeler, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, David Hockney, and Sherrie Levine. Major works by such ground-breaking photographers as Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, and Margaret Bourke-White will also be included.
“The relationship of painting to photography in American Art has been both anxious and highly productive,” said Jonathan Weinberg, art historian and author. “American artists as different as Eakins and Warhol, Remington and Flack, O’Keeffe and Close used the camera as a way to revitalize the practice of painting.”
Shared Intelligence was organized by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and co-curated by Barbara Buhler Lynes and Jonathan Weinberg Ph.D.
The Columbus Museum of Art creates great experiences with great art for everyone. The Columbus Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Nationwide Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council provide ongoing support. CMA and the Museum Store are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and until 8:30 PM every Thursday. The Palette Express is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For additional information, call 614.221.4848 or visit www.columbusmuseum.org.
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