The Fitchburg Art Museum Presents "Pioneers in American 20th Century Photography"

Written by Lucy Edmundson Wednesday, 01 February 2012 23:22

Fitchburg, Masachusetts.- The Fitchburg Art Museum is proud to present "Pioneers in American 20th Century Photography", on view at the museum through March 18th. A rare and recently acquired Alfred Stieglitz image "The Steerage" (1907), is the centerpiece of this exhibition featuring early 20th Century American photography. This seminal photograph, printed on Japanese tissue paper, is one of only eight existing in the world. It has been hailed as one of the greatest photographs of all time because it captures in a single image both a formative document of its time and one of the first works of artistic modernism.

The scene reveals people traveling in the lower-class section of a steamer going from New York back to Europe. "I saw a picture of shapes and underlying that the feeling I had about life," said Stieglitz. This exhibition includes other important photographs such as Berenice Abbott's "Blossom Restaurant, 103 Bowery"; Arthur Rothstein's "Dust Storm, Cimarron Country, Oklahoma", picturing dust bowl conditions in 1936 America. Additionally, on display is a portfolio of ten photographs, which Rothstein printed from Farm Security Administration negatives in the Library of Congress. These photographs include the work of such greats as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Ben Shahn.

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and number of books. The head of the Library is the Librarian of Congress, currently James H. Billington.

The Fitchburg Art Museum, North Central Massachusetts' most treasured cultural institution is a world-class family-friendly museum with a permanent collection spanning 5,000 years. The museum was founded in 1925 through the bequest of artist, collector and Fitchburg native Eleanor Norcross (1854-1923). Her extraordinary talents and educational vision highlights her as an important pioneer in American social history. The museum's four building complex features over 20,000 square feet of gallery and educational workshop space and includes the historic "Cross Barn" built in 1883, and the impressive Simond's building completed in 1989. Visitors can experience masterpieces in 12 beautifully designed galleries that feature American, European, African, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Asian, and Pre-Colombian art. Highlights from the permanent painting collections include master works from John Singleton Copley, Rockwell Kent, John Singer Sargent, Joseph Stella, Raoul Dufy, and Joseph Wright of Derby. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.fitchburgartmuseum.org

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