| Photocollages at the Metropolitan Reveal Wit and Whimsy of the Victorian Era |
 Marie-Blanche-Hennelle Fournier (French, 1831–1906). Untitled page from the Madame B. Album, 1870s. Collage of watercolor, ink, and albumen prints. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mary and Leigh Block Endowment. |
| NEW YORK, NY.- In the 1860s and 1870s, long before the embrace of collage techniques by avant-garde artists of the early 20th century, aristocratic Victorian women were experimenting with photocollage. Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art February 2 – May 9, 2010, is the first exhibition to comprehensively examine this little-known phenomenon. Whimsical and fantastical Victorian photocollages, created using a combination of watercolor drawings and cut-and-pasted photographs, reveal the educated minds as well as accomplished hands of their makers. With subjects as varied as new theories of evolution, the changing role of photography, and the strict conventions of aristocratic society, the photocollages frequently debunked stuffy Victorian clichés with surreal, subversive, and funny images. Featuring 48 works from public and private collections—including many that have rarely or never been exhibited before—Playing with Pictures will provide a fascinating window into the creative possibilities of photography in the 19th century. |
