Difference between revisions of "Beaumont Newhall"

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'''Beaumont Newhall''' (1908 – 1993) was an art historian, writer, photographer and the first curator of photography at Museum of Modern Art, New York. His "The History of Photography" (1st edition, 1939) remains one of the most significant accounts in the field and has become a classic photo history textbook. He studied art history and museum studies at Harvard University (1930). Newhall mounted a survey exhibition of photography for the Museum in 1937, "Photography, 1839-1937". The 800-work exhibition toured the country and the catalog for the show became a staple for the history of photography. Ironically, Newhall's treatment of photography as high art rankled the museum's board of trustees, who accepted public criticism that the Museum was turning a popular medium into an avenue of snobbery [http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/newhallb.htm].
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[[Image:Newhall_photo_by_Charles_R._Rushton.jpg|thumb|350px|Beaumont Newhall, photo by Charles R. Rushton.]]
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'''Beaumont Newhall''' (1908–1993) was an art historian, writer, photographer and the first curator of photography at Museum of Modern Art, New York (1940-1945). His book ''The History of Photography'' (1949) remains one of the most significant accounts in the field and has become a classic photo history textbook.
  
==Books==
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==Biography==
* Newhall Beaumont, ''The History of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day'', , New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1939 (1st ed.), 1982 (4th edition).
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Newhall studied art history and museum studies at Harvard University (1930). In 1937, he mounted a survey exhibition of photography for the Museum of Modern Art, ''Photography, 1839-1937''. The 800-work exhibition toured the country and the catalog for the show became a staple for the history of photography. Ironically, Newhall's treatment of photography as high art rankled the museum's board of trustees, who accepted public criticism that the Museum was turning a popular medium into an avenue of snobbery. [http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/newhallb.htm]
* ''A Short Critical History of Photography''
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In 1948, Beaumont Newhall became the first Curator of Photography at the George Eastman House, and then served as its Director from 1958 to 1971, building a significant photography collection. After his retirement, Newhall accepted a position as Visiting Professor of Art at the University of New Mexico, where he helped to establish the first doctoral program in the history of photography at an American university [http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=newhall-beaumont-1908--cr.xml].
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He died at his home in Santa Fe, from complications from a stroke, February 26, 1993 [http://www.creativephotography.org/artists/beaumont-newhall].
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==Publications==
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[[Image:Photography 1839-1937 MoMA 1937.jpg|thumb|350px|''Photography 1839-1937'', 1937, [[Media:Photography_1839-1937_MoMA_1937.pdf|PDF]].]]
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* editor, ''[[Media:Photography_1839-1937_MoMA_1937.pdf|Photography 1839-1937]]'', New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1937, [http://aaaaarg.fail/static/reader.htm?0=2862f5eb05b60a08cd3996631d5b71e0-0 ARG]. Catalogue for the [http://moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2088?locale=en 1937 exhibition]. [http://www.moma.org/interactives/objectphoto/publications/777.html]
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* ''A Short Critical History of Photography'', 1940.
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* ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=11179 The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present Day]'', New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1949, 256 pp; 5th ed., 1982.
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** [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=11179 ''Historia de la fotografia''], trans. Homero Alsina Thevenet, 2002. {{es}}
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* with Nancy Newhall, [[Media:Newhall_Beaumont_Newhall_Nancy_Masters_of_Photography_1958.pdf|''Masters of Photography'']], New York: Castle Books & George Braziller, Inc., 1958; 1968, [http://archive.org/details/BeaumontNewhallTheHistoryOfPhotography1968 IA].
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* ''Frederick Evans'', 1964.
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* ''Latent Image: The Discovery of Photography'', Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967.
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* ''Airborne Camera: The World from the Air and Outer Space'', New York: Hastings House, 1969.
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* ''The Daguerreotype in America'', New York: Dover Publications, 1961; 3rd ed. rev., 1975, [http://booksdescr.org/item/index.php?md5=BF2E586F3687A9613C587E18DA7975FB PDF],  [https://archive.org/details/thedaguerreotypeinamerica IA], 1976.
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* ''Photography, Essays & Images: Illustrated Readings in the History of Photography'', New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1980.
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* ''In Plain Sight: The Photographs of Beaumont Newhall'', 1983.
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* ''Focus: Memoirs of a Life in Photography'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1993.
  
 
==Literature==
 
==Literature==
* Ya'ara Gil Glazer, "A new kind of history? The challenges of contemporary histories of photography", ''Journal of Art Historiography'', no. 3, December 2010 [http://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/media_183179_en.pdf].
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* ''Perspectives on Photography: Essays in Honor of Beumont Newhall'', Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.
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* Marquis, Alice Goldfarb, ''Alfred H. Barr, Jr.: Missionary for the Modern'', Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1989, pp 137-138.
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* Ya'ara Gil Glazer, [http://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/media_183179_en.pdf "A new kind of history? The challenges of contemporary histories of photography"], ''Journal of Art Historiography'' 3 (Dec 2010).
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Newhall Newhall on Wikipedia]
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* [http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/newhallb.htm Newhall in the Dictionary of Art Historians]
* [http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/newhallb.htm Newhall on Dictionary of Art Historians]
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* [http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=newhall-beaumont-1908--cr.xml Newhall at Social Archive]
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* [http://archives2.getty.edu:8082/xtf/view?docId=ead/920060/920060.xml Beaumont and Nancy Newhall papers, 1843-1993]
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* [http://www.creativephotography.org/artists/beaumont-newhall Newhall at CreativePhotography.org]
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* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Newhall Newhall at Wikipedia]
  
[[Category:Media culture writers]]
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[[Series:Photography]] [[Series:Art history]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Newhall, Beaumont}}
[[Category:Photography]]
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newhall, Beaumont}}
 

Latest revision as of 18:14, 5 January 2024

Beaumont Newhall, photo by Charles R. Rushton.

Beaumont Newhall (1908–1993) was an art historian, writer, photographer and the first curator of photography at Museum of Modern Art, New York (1940-1945). His book The History of Photography (1949) remains one of the most significant accounts in the field and has become a classic photo history textbook.

Biography[edit]

Newhall studied art history and museum studies at Harvard University (1930). In 1937, he mounted a survey exhibition of photography for the Museum of Modern Art, Photography, 1839-1937. The 800-work exhibition toured the country and the catalog for the show became a staple for the history of photography. Ironically, Newhall's treatment of photography as high art rankled the museum's board of trustees, who accepted public criticism that the Museum was turning a popular medium into an avenue of snobbery. [1] In 1948, Beaumont Newhall became the first Curator of Photography at the George Eastman House, and then served as its Director from 1958 to 1971, building a significant photography collection. After his retirement, Newhall accepted a position as Visiting Professor of Art at the University of New Mexico, where he helped to establish the first doctoral program in the history of photography at an American university [2]. He died at his home in Santa Fe, from complications from a stroke, February 26, 1993 [3].

Publications[edit]

Photography 1839-1937, 1937, PDF.
  • editor, Photography 1839-1937, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1937, ARG. Catalogue for the 1937 exhibition. [4]
  • A Short Critical History of Photography, 1940.
  • The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present Day, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1949, 256 pp; 5th ed., 1982.
  • with Nancy Newhall, Masters of Photography, New York: Castle Books & George Braziller, Inc., 1958; 1968, IA.
  • Frederick Evans, 1964.
  • Latent Image: The Discovery of Photography, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967.
  • Airborne Camera: The World from the Air and Outer Space, New York: Hastings House, 1969.
  • The Daguerreotype in America, New York: Dover Publications, 1961; 3rd ed. rev., 1975, PDF, IA, 1976.
  • Photography, Essays & Images: Illustrated Readings in the History of Photography, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1980.
  • In Plain Sight: The Photographs of Beaumont Newhall, 1983.
  • Focus: Memoirs of a Life in Photography, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1993.

Literature[edit]

Links[edit]