For many today, the art of the late nineteenth-century is dominated by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. However, this is only the better-known part of the story—a story retold within the pages of this captivating catalogue. For collectors the experience of prints, drawings, and small sculptures was often a private affair. Such works of art were not typically a part of one’s day-to-day environment in the manner of a framed object hung on a wall. Rather, they were subject to purposeful study on chosen occasions. From the beginning, this element of discreteness allowed for degrees of experiment leading artists to sometimes recherché, sometimes enigmatic, and often melancholy subjects that indulged the solitary circumstances of their reception.
By explicating a range of highly engaging, often mysterious and beautiful objects, The Darker Side of Light evokes the shadowed interiors and private introspections that compose a far less familiar history of late nineteenth-century art.
192 pages, 86 color | 7.5 x 11 inches
Exhibition Schedule:
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles—April 5–June 28, 2009
National Gallery of Art, Washington—October 1, 2009–January 18, 2010
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago—February 11–June 10, 2010
Click here for more information on this exhibition.
