A new exhibition on the work of photographers or painters during the time of the Impressionists will be held at the University of Michigan Museum of Art until January 3, 2010.
The exhibition entitled, The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting Along the Normandy Coast, 1850-1874, attempts to establish a link between the work of photographers and painters in the 19th century, which led to the birth of Impressionism.
In the exhibit, painters Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Gustave Courbet will be exposed along with photographers Gustave Le Gray and Henri Le Secq. These works came from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Bibliotheque Nationale in France.
"There has been a long discussion about how much influence that photography had on avant-garde painting, what became Impressionism," explained Carole McNamara, senior curator of the museum. She added, "Painters looked at photos, collected photos. Photographers were aware of painters."
The exhibition will then move to Dallas from February 21 to March 23, 2010.