by Holly Gardner, Education Coordinator

The Muscarelle Museum is proud to present “Photography from 1870 to Tomorrow: Pioneers and Innovators,” on view now in Galleries 10 & 11. This exhibition provides a snapshot of an area of strength in the Museum’s collection. Spanning from 1870 to 2022, photographs on view represent a wide range of techniques and subjects, highlighting masterworks from the permanent collection. Built through generous donations from alumni and individual supporters, the photography collection continues to expand through the Muscarelle’s active and ongoing collecting initiatives. Visit now to see the work of renowned photographers such as Edward Curtis, Julia Margaret Cameron, Ansel Adams, Cara Romero, Herb Ritts and many more!

Vesna Pavlović

Through her work, photographer Vesna Pavlović documented the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. These photographs, captured between 2003 and 2005, feature empty civic buildings boasting modernist interiors which remained unchanged since their original, mid-century installations. Void of people, these images seek to explore the cultural impact and construction of identity that interior design may instill. The Salon of the Socialist Republic of Serbia. Inside the Federal Executive Council Building, Belgrade, Serbia (2003-2005) shows a carefully curated space designed to celebrate the former Yugoslavia’s power and cultural history. In a world post-WWII and during the Kulturkampf of the Cold War, modernist art began to symbolize anti-fascist and anti-Stalinist notions of cultural and artistic freedom.

VESNA PAVLOVIĆ | *“¡No pasarán!” and “Kolona,” Đorđe Andrejević Kun. Inside the Federal Executive Council Building, Belgrade, Serbia*, 2003-2005

The paintings of Đorđe Andrejević Kun are sharply juxtaposed against a mid-century modern setting in “¡No pasarán!” and “Kolona,” Đorđe Andrejević Kun. Inside the Federal Executive Council Building, Belgrade, Serbia (2003-2005) by Vesna Pavlović. Kun is best known for his artistic engagement with social issues in Serbia and Yugoslavia. ¡No pasarán! (1948, pictured left) serves as a testament to Kun’s time assisting the Spanish Republicans in their fight against Francisco Franco’s nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. To the right of Pavlović’s photograph is Kolona (1946), created during Kun’s tenure as the president of the Yugoslav Federation of Artists.

VESNA PAVLOVIĆ | *Yugoslavia Hall. “Kompozicija 75 – Vrt” Mateja Rodići. Inside the Federal Executive Council Building, Belgrade, Serbia*, 2003-2005

Referenced in the title, Mateja Rodići, whose textile work is featured at top center of the image, is a Serbian tapestry artist born in 1929. Photographed in the early 2000s, these interiors have not changed since its original installation, creating a virtual time capsule of mid-century Eastern Europe.

Edward S. Curtis

EDWARD CURTIS | *Vanishing Race, Navajo*, 1904

From 1900 to 1930, photographer and ethnologist Edward S. Curtis traveled across the United States and Canada photographing members of over seventy Native American tribes, funded by American investment banker J.P. Morgan. These photographs were compiled into a twenty-volume work containing over 1,500 photographs titled The North American Indian. In addition to his photographic work, Curtis recorded tribal history, made over 10,000 wax cylinder recordings, and collected other ethnographic information. The Vanishing Race, Navajo (1904) was published in the first volume of The North American Indian, published in 1907.

Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron was a pioneering and unique personality in the history of photography. At the age of 48, Cameron was gifted with her first camera, and she immediately set out to discover its possibilities. Using her friends and family as models, she designed costumes to portray them as characters from history or Shakespeare in the expressive style of the old masters. She is best known for her use of soft-focus to depict characters from religion, literature and mythology.

What is focus and who has the right to say what focus is the legitimate focus? – Julia Margaret Cameron

JULIA MARGARET CAMERON | *A Study of The Cenci*, 1870

A Study of The Cenci (1870) is just one in a series of photographs by Cameron dedicated to Beatrice Cenci, the Renaissance heroine whose fame was revived in Victorian times by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s dramatic 1819 play, The Cenci, A Tragedy, in Five Acts. In this portrait, Cameron has cast her friend Mary Prinsep in the role of Beatrice Cenci, adapting the pose and attire from the celebrated portrait by Guido Reni, c. 1601, in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome. A Study of The Cenci is a remarkable example of Cameron’s mastery in creating atmosphere. Rather than exploiting the fine resolution and detail of her glass negatives, Cameron chose soft focus and long exposures, capturing the model’s slightest movement and instilling the image with an ineffable sense of the breath of life.

Photography Selections from the Permanent Collection

Vesna Pavlović

Edward S. Curtis

Julia Margaret Cameron