Photography and painting in the 19th Century A new art form? A different form of nature! 1 May – 18 July 2004 Photography influenced artistic perception in the 19th Century as no other medium had ever done. In spite of the initial prejudices which condemned photography as “mechanical art”, it nevertheless soon became an indispensible aid to architects, artists and sculptors. At the same time, it served as a precise way of observing reality, as a sort of corrective to human perception. Although the first photographers imitated paintings in their choice of subject, the new “aid” simultaneously opened up a new way of seeing things, which had immediate repercussions in the world of fine arts. This stimulating interrelation between photography and painting formed the topic of the exhibition. With the aid of around 220 photographs and 30 paintings and drawings, the dialogue between photography and painting was explained, so that it became clear how photography developed its own world of art and aesthetics in the 19th Century. More Less Exhibition Leaflet Past exhibitions of the Kunsthalle
