Clark Art Institute schedules Material Witnesses January 15 – April 11, 2010

Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, schedules Material Witnesses: Photographs of Things, an exhibition showing that photographic images can be mysterious works of art as well as functional documents. The exhibition runs from Jan. 15 – April 11, 2010; it features 17 photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, Eugène Atget, Henri Jean-Louis Le Secq, Charles Thurston Thompson, Linnaeus Tripe, Edwin Hale Lincoln, and Adolphe Terris, from the collections of the Clark and the Troob Family Foundation.

Since its invention in the first half of the nineteenth century, photography has been used for documentary purposes, faithfully recording the details of archaeological artifacts, works of art, and natural specimens. Appearing to be no more than bearers of information or certificates of authenticity, many such photographs are not as simple as they might seem at first glance. The exhibition considers how documentary images, while retaining a certain “visual truth,” are also highly mysterious works of art.

Lingering traces of these photographers-a reflection in a mirror, handwritten inventory numbers, the artificial arrangement of the objects themselves-draw attention to activities that took place outside the picture frame, unseen by the camera. The viewer is left to interpret this forensic evidence, to make sense of each picture’s particular account of the past and the real. These photographs are material witnesses in the transformation of mundane objects-stones, flowers, china-into significant subjects-mementos, symbols, art.

The Clark’s Sarah Hammond, curator of the exhibition, will lead a Looking at Lunchtime Gallery Talk on Material Witnesses: Photographs of Things on Thursday, February 11 at 12:30 pm. Admission is free.

The Clark’s collection of photographs dates from the invention of photography to the early twentieth century and now comprises nearly 1,000 works. The collection includes important photographs by Gustave Le Gray, Édouard Baldus, Nadar, Eugène Atget, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Francis Frith, Roger Fenton, Carleton Watkins, William Bradford, Winslow Homer, and Alfred Stieglitz. The collection of works on paper may be viewed by appointment in the department’s study room. To arrange a visit, call 413-458-2303, extension 360.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm (open daily in July and August). Admission is free November through May. Adult admission is charged June 1 through October 31. Admission is always free for children 18 and younger, members, and students with valid ID. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit clarkart.edu.

image credits:

Osmunda Eegalis-North Europe, c. 1850, anonymous
Cyanotype photogram
Collection of the Troob Family Foundation

Masks for the Fireplaces in the Management Area, New Paris Opera, 1865, by the Delmaet and Durandelle Photography Studio
Albumen print from glass negative
Collection of the Troob Family Foundation
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