Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name held October 29, 2016-May 7, 2017 at the Museum of Modern Art. Includes bibliographical references (pages 146-149) and index.
Summary:
"The Shape of Things: Photographs from Robert B. Menschel presents an engaging survey of The Museum of Modern Art's multifaceted collection of photography. Borrowing its title from the eponymous work by Carrie Mae Weems, the exhibition is drawn entirely from works acquired over the past 40 years with the support of Robert B. Menschel, telling the story of photography from its beginnings. Covering more than 150 years of photography--from an 1843 view of Paris by William Henry Fox Talbot, the English father of photography, to An-My Lè‚'s depictions of US military exercises in preparation for war in Iraq and Afghanistan--the exhibition underscores an equal attention to the past and the present, and a strong belief that they complement each other; and that each generation reinvents photography. Since Menschel joined the Committee on Photography at MoMA in 1977, over 500 works have entered the collection through his support, including 162 photographs he recently donated from his personal collection"--Provided by publisher. "This survey explores 60 remarkable photographs from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, all acquired with the support of Robert B. Menschel and meticulously selected for the book by the museum's chief curator of photography, Quentin Bajac. Ranging from the contemporary artist Andreas Gursky to William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the medium's founding figures, these works collectively tell the story of photography from its beginnings, but upend and newly illuminate that story through their arrangement in reverse chronological order. Each image is the subject of a brief, elegant text. The book borrows its title from a work by Carrie Mae Weems, one of the many great photographs that Menschel has contributed to the collection."--Artbook& website (viewed November 14, 2016)
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.