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East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography

March 12 – July 16, 2017
West Building, Ground Floor, Inner Tier Galleries

Henry Peter Bosse, Construction of Rock and Brush Dam, L.W. 1891, 1891, cyanotype, National Gallery of Art, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon, 2006.131.2

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

The first exhibition to focus exclusively on photographs made in the eastern half of the United States during the 19th century, East of the Mississippi showcases some 175 works—from daguerreotypes and stereographs to albumen prints and cyanotypes—as well as several photographers whose efforts have often gone unheralded. Celebrating natural wonders such as Niagara Falls and the White Mountains, as well as capturing a cultural landscape fundamentally altered by industrialization, the Civil War, and tourism, these photographs not only helped shape America’s national identity but also played a role in the emergence of environmentalism.

East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Hugh Lee Pattinson, Horseshoe Falls, 1840, daguerreotype, Robinson Library, Newcastle University, England
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Samuel A. Bemis, Crawford Notch and Hotel, White Mountains, New Hampshire, 1840–1842, daguerreotype, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005 (2005.100.207)
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

John Moran, Blackberry Bushes, 1862, albumen print, Collection of William L. Schaeffer
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Charles Bierstadt and Edward Bierstadt, The Cathedral, White Mountains, New Hampshire, c. 1860, albumen print, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.250
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Jay Dearborn Edwards, Steamer Princess, 1858–1859, salted paper print, The Historic New Orleans Collection
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Thomas M. Easterly, Big Mound during Destruction, the Last of the Big Mound, 1869, daguerreotype, Missouri Historical Society, Saint Louis, Thomas Easterly Daguerreotype Collection
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Andrew J. Russell, Rebel Rifle Pits, Bull Run, 1863, albumen print, Stephen G. Stein Employee Benefit Trust
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

George N. Barnard, Battle Ground of Resacca, Ga., No. 2, 1866, albumen print from Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign (New York, 1866), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Acquired by exchange with the Library of Congress
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

James F. Ryder, Atlantic & Great Western Railway, 1862, albumen print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon and Patrons’ Permanent Fund
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

George Kendall Warren, From Trophy Point, West Point, Hudson River, c. 1867–1868, albumen print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Robert Menschel and the Vital Projects Fund
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

Henry Peter Bosse, Construction of Rock and Brush Dam, L[ow]. W[ater]., 1891, cyanotype, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-century American Landscape Photography

George Barker, Niagara Falls, 1886, albumen print, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.3503

Organization: The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Sponsors: The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Trellis Fund.

Additional funding is kindly provided by Kate and Wes Mitchell.

Attendance: 62,846

Catalog: East of the Mississippi Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography. By Diane Waggoner, et al. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2017.

Other venues: New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, October 5, 2017–January 7, 2018

Exhibition Feature

Press Release

Exhibition Checklist

Gallery Shops: Exhibition Catalog

The Geography of Culture: Photographic Narratives in the Landscape of the American East
Video, Released: July 4, 2017, (30:24 minutes)
John Moran and Art Photography in America: 1855–1875
Audio, Released: May 23, 2017, (56:08 minutes)
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography
Video, Released: April 18, 2017, (46:20 minutes)
East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography
Audio, Released: March 14, 2017, (46:20 minutes)
Press Event: The Woodner Collections: Master Drawings from Seven Centuries & East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography
Audio, Released: March 7, 2017, (28:19 minutes)