(Photography in Normandy: A pioneering dialogue between art forms, 1840-1890)

Musée d’art moderne André Malraux – MuMa

25 May 2024 – 22 September 2024

The exhibition “Photography in Normandy: A pioneering dialogue between the art forms (1840-1890)” highlighted the decisive role that Normandy played in the beginnings of photography through the juxta positioning of nineteenth-century photographs and paintings of the Norman landscape. With the building of the railway between Paris and Normandy in the mid-nineteenth century, it became easier to travel to Normandy and explore the area. For a variety of reasons including its light, its accessibility, its heritage and its picturesque locations, Normandy held great attractions for photographers and became a favoured field for creative experiment. The exhibition comprised more 150 photographs and paintings, mainly from Norman archives, libraries, museums and private collections, the Musée d’Orsay, the Société française de photographie and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The Ruskin contributed key works to the exhibition from Ruskin’s travels in Europe, John Ruskin when he stayed in Normandy eight times between 1835 and 1880. In connection with his campaign to promote Gothic architecture, he took pictures of architectural details of Rouen’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, to preserve historic architectural detail and for the pedagogic purposes.

Exhibition Website: Photographier en Normandie (1840-1890) – Un dialogue pionnier entre les arts | MuMa Le Havre : site officiel du musée d’art moderne André Malraux

MuMa: Digital Tour of the Exhibition