Preface

Glassman, Elizabeth

Save Cite Share

Free

Preface

Elizabeth Glassman

Images of the West: Survey Photography in French Collections, 1860–1880

“Images of the West: Survey Photography in French Collections, 1860–1880,” presented at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, is the result of five years of hard work by an international team of scholars. The Terra Foundation for American Art is proud to support the exhibition, which presents a broad panorama of the survey photographs of the American West for the...

Author

Elizabeth Glassman

PublisherTerra Foundation for American Art

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20982

Preface

~

Description: Group of Officers and Assistants at Rendezvous Camp near Belmont, Nevada by...

Timothy H. O’Sullivan, Group of Officers and Assistants at Rendezvous Camp near Belmont, Nevada, 1871. Albumen print, 20 × 28 cm. Société de Geographie Paris

“Images of the West: Survey Photography in French Collections, 1860–1880,” presented at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, is the result of five years of hard work by an international team of scholars. The Terra Foundation for American Art is proud to support the exhibition, which presents a broad panorama of the survey photographs of the American West for the first time in Europe. Produced during federal expeditions from 1876 to 1879, these historic photographs have received a great deal of attention and study in the United States, but remain relatively unknown to European audiences. This is surprising when the rich holdings of French institutions and collectors allow us to assemble such remarkable examples. The study of the development of these collections provides a new understanding of their historic importance, long-standing transatlantic ties, and a worldwide fascination with the new American territories.

“Images of the West” is the result of an inspiring collaboration between a specialist and a museum. It has benefited from twenty years of research that François Brunet has devoted to this subject, begun during his study of these survey photographs for his doctoral thesis completed at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. With the help of Bronwyn Griffith, former Associate Curator at the museum and specialist in photography, and with the support of Sophie Levy and Vanessa Lecomte, François Brunet successfully assembled more than 120 works—original prints, portfolios, stereoscopic photographs—produced by renowned photographers such as Carleton E. Watkins, Timothy H. O’Sullivan, William H. Jackson, Antonio Zeno Shindler, Alexander Gardner John K. Hillers, Andrew J. Russell and William Bell. Brunet brought a great deal of enthusiasm to the project as well as his subtle, historic point of view, tireless efforts, and a remarkable openness and flexibility, which were key to the success of the project and the catalogue. Bronwyn Griffith also deserves special acknowledgement for her active involvement in every phase of this project.

This exhibition would not have been possible without the exceptional participation of the Société de Géographie and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France whose loans represent more than half the works assembled here. We thank them for their extraordinary generosity.

We also thank all the museums, institutions, associations, and private collectors who have so generously participated in this project with loans of important works of art. Among them, we would especially like to thank the following scholars: at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Olivier Loiseaux, Chief Curator of the Département des Cartes et Plans, Head of the Collections of the Société de Géographie, generously made available the vast holdings of the Société de Géographie, and offered precious advice and support; Sylvie Aubenas, Curator of the Département des Estampes et de la Photographie shared with us her time and knowledge and helped us obtain important loans; at the Société de Géographie, Jean Bastié, President and Michel Dagnaud, General Secretary; at the Musée d’Orsay, Françoise Heilbrun, Chief Curator of the Photography Department and Joelle Bolloch, Archivist; at the Musée du Quai Branly, Christine Barthe, Chief Curator of the Photographic Collections, Heritage Unit, kindly shared important information and rare works from a museum still in its formation, and Carine Peltier, Curator of the Image Library; at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône, Christian Passed, Curator; at the Bibliothèque Administrative de la Ville de Paris, Pierre Casselle, Chief Curator, and Agnès Tartié, Curator of Photographs; at the Bibliothèque Céntrale du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Christine Bonnefon and Sylvie Devers, Curators; at the École Normale Supérieure, Laure Léveillé, Director of the Bibliothèque Genérale; at the Club Alpin Français, Alina Sepulveda, Librarian; and lastly, Marc Walter.

Among the numerous curators, collectors and experts who also shared help and support, we would like to extend special thanks to Olivier Gerard, descendant of the collector Léon Gerard, for his recollections and Françoise Reynaud, Senior Curator of the Photographic Collections at the Musée Carnavalet, whose scholarly and technical advice were particularly helpful; Sylviane de Decker, collector; Isabel Girardot, Administrator at the Bibliothèque du Sénat; Jean-Philippe Dumas, Senior Curator for Cultural Heritage at the French Ministère des Affaires Étrangères; Pascal Mongne, Ph.D. of Pre-columbian archaeology and art history, Professor at the École du Louvre; Marie-Christine Thooris, Curator of the Reserve Collection and Heritage Resource of the École Polytechnique; Shannon Perich, Curator at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

We express our gratitude to François Brunet and Mick Gidley who shared their expert knowledge with us throughout the project and whose scholarly essays enrich this publication. We would like to thank the Reunion des Musées Nationaux, co-editor of this catalogue and especially Catherine Marquet, Head of the Publications Department. This beautiful book was produced at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny by Francesca Rose, Head of Publications, and Audrey Klébaner, Editorial Assistant. We hope that this exhibition and its catalogue will inspire enthusiasm and curiosity among our international visitors.

Veerle Thielemans, Head of Academic Programs, and Ewa Bobrowska-Jakubowski, Coordinator of Academic Programs, coordinated a colloquium related to “Images of the West” and “Mythologies of the West,” a wonderful exhibition organized by Laurent Salomé and FRAME (French Regional and American Museums Exchange), in collaboration with the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. “Mythologies of the West” is devoted to paintings and sculptures of the American West and overlaps with “Images of the West” in nearby Giverny.

An exhibition of this magnitude requires the efforts of many members of the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny teams and we are grateful to all who contributed their expertise and talents to the development of the project.

Finally, the unflagging support of the Terra Foundation for American Art Board and its president Marshall Field V has been essential to the realization of this exhibition, as for so many others.

Elizabeth Glassman
Director, Musée d’Art Américain Giverny
President, Terra Foundation for American Art

Previous chapter

Base text size -

Chapter images ()