Beaumont Newhall
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 [1].
Books
- 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).
- A Short Critical History of Photography
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 [2].
