© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek
Un grand merci au Dr. Ludger Derenthal et à
Kristina Lowis pour avoir pensé et monté cette belle exposition qui valorise des pièces de la SFP.
Fri 3 May - Sun 25 August 2013
'The Naked Truth and More Besides'
Nude Photography around 1900
At the dawn of the last century, photographs of nudes could be found
everywhere. The exhibition 'The Naked Truth and More Besides' presents
the astonishing diversity of photographic depictions of the disrobed
human body that existed around this time. It was an age in which the
foundations were laid for the development in the public domain of an
extremely varied type of image, which, more than any other, continues to
inform the world in which we live today.
Most striking of all,
the photographic nude appeared as a reproducible medium - on postcards,
cigarette cards, posters, in magazines and in advertising, as
inspiration for artists and an incentive for sportsmen, as instructional
material, and as collector's items. From the vast array of material, it
is possible to identify several distinct groups that fall under such
headings as: the mass produced, visual pleasures (arcadias, eroticism,
and pornography), the body in the eye of science (ethnography,
motion-study photography, medicine), the cult of the body (reform
movements - especially in German-speaking countries - naturism, 'Free
Body Culture', and staged nudes from the world of sport and variety
shows), and, of course, the nude in the artistic context (art academies
and the Pictorialist tradition of fine-art prints). The most important
characteristic of the image of naked people during this time is the
inseparability of nude photographic production and reproduction.
The
trade or exchange in nude photographs was widespread across the whole
of Europe. This is reflected in today's exhibition, which not only
features many treasures and rare finds from the Kunstbibliothek's own
Collection of Photography, but also includes important loans from
several European institutions, ranging from the Bibliothèque nationale
de France to the Police Museum of Lower Saxony.
Presented by:
Sammlung Fotografie der Kunstbibliothek
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek