Chiaroscuro in photography

February 12 2015 to May 17 2015

In parallel to the Late Rembrandt exhibition, the Rijksmuseum is presenting the earliest photographers from its own collection. There are more than 45 unique photos and paper negatives on display by Charles Nègre, Maxime du Camp and Félix Teynard, among others in the Photo Gallery. Highlights include a portrait that William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of photography, made of his daughter and an 1842 portrait of his Dutch assistant Nicolaas Henneman in negative.

Secrets of ‘light and brown’

zuilengang Colonnade in Viravasuntarayan Mundapam, Madura, India, attributed to Linnaeus Tripe, 1858 – 1860The exhibition shows that light, shadow and lighting – as in the work of Rembrandt – play the leading role in photography. With many studies and experiments a ‘new’ art was given form. There are superior pictures of Egypt by Teynard and Du Camp. Linnaeus Tripe photographed in India. But photographers in Europe also brought architecture and landscapes to life that nobody knew from personal observation. Travel photos, particularly by French photographers, are on display. In Greece, Eugène Piot photographed the Parthenon, Charles Nègre took photos in the south of France and Charles Marville captured the sculptures of Reims Cathedral. The Briton Charles Clifford went to Spain. Portraits were also made on paper negatives. Chiaroscuro in photography shows unique works of tenacious adventurers.

With this exhibition, the Rijksmuseum reveals an unknown facet of the earliest photography: the negatives were made on paper during the early years. Although the paper negatives are opaque, they can be viewed in a spectacular manner at the exhibition because they are backlit.

Chiaroscuro in photography can be seen from 12 February to 17 May 2015 in the Photo Gallery in the Philips Wing.